SAYING TANKS
Face it, with Knicks not expected to win much this season, it’s not too early to look at top of ’18 Draft
As their season has potential to be among worst in league, Knicks fans need to look at 2018 Draft
This is it for the Knicks. Their last chance to take advantage of the current draft lottery system. And they’re set up wonderfully. While it probably won’t drum up excitement for the Knicks season, the reality is that they aren’t prioritizing victories. The front office isn’t even claiming playoffs as a goal in a historically awful Eastern Conference.
“If we can (play hard and try to defend), we can live with the results,” GM Scott Perry said.
The argument can certainly be made that the Knicks are better off losing games than bucking expectations for a first-round playoff defeat. Kristaps Porzingis probably won’t like losing, and don’t underestimate the importance of his happiness leading into next summer, when the Knicks can offer him a lucrative extension.
But New York’s best chance to dramatically improve the roster is through the draft. Even if they had cap space (which they won’t so long as Joakim Noah, Courtney Lee, Enes Kanter and Hardaway Jr. are on the books), the Knicks aren’t an attractive free-agent destination.
Derrick Rose said recently that playing for the Knicks hurt his value — not only because they lost 51 games last season, but also due to a lack of exposure.
Imagine a free agent carrying that perception of New York, along with all the losing?
“I think I was hooping my ass off last season,” Rose, whose value was so crushed after one season with the Knicks that he only managed a minimum deal in free agency, told Yahoo! “But the losing overshadows everything. You get overlooked. The only thing I was missing was this stage. Coming to Cleveland, playing on (national) TV 40-something times a year, I think that takes care of that. I just wanted a chance. That’s it.”
The current Knicks can’t offer money, winning or very many national TV appearances. But they do own all their first-round draft picks, which next June might land them a star depending on how the Ping Pong balls fall. Ideally, the Knicks want to see growth from their young core players – specifically Porzingis and Frank Ntilikina – without sacrificing the rebuild. It’s a delicate balance. “I think the Knicks obviously have declared what they want to do, which is rebuild, and so much is going to be -- this season is going to be about Porzingis and (Willy) Hernangomez, their development, and Frank's ability to learn the NBA quickly at a difficult position and get him significant minutes to grow,” ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy said. So get the slogans ready. Is it Bomb for
Bagley? Come up Shorter for Michael Porter? Lousy for Luka?
If you’re looking lights at the end of what figures to be a long season, here’s a breakdown of the three top prospects of the 2018 draft class. We suspect you’ll hear these names more as the Knicks season progresses:
MARVIN BAGLEY III
This is the last good season to be bad since the NBA is restructuring its draft lottery system for 2019 to discourage tanking.
It’s also good because Bagley III decided to reclassify and graduate high school in 2017, meaning he’ll be eligible for the NBA in 2018 after one season at Duke.
At 6-11 and 220 pounds, Bagley III is a superior athlete with an offensive game that’s been compared to Anthony Davis. Imagine that in a front line with Porzingis?
As with all high school players, however, Bagley III will have a lot to prove once at the next level. There have been many who didn’t live up to the hype, and few have been as hyped as Bagley – a combination of speed, size, coordination and a perimeter game that makes him ideal for today’s NBA.
MICHAEL PORTER JR.
He’s 6-10 but plays like a wing with playmaking shooting skills. His perimeter game has drawn comparisons to Kevin Durant (although we’re not ready to declare him as great an offensive force).
Porter Jr., 19, is a perfect replacement for Carmelo Anthony, capable of playing either forward position and spreading the floor. But can he create his own shot at the next level? Can he still create off the dribble when the defenders are bigger and faster.
We’ll find out a lot more with his next season at Missouri. For right now, Porter Jr. passes the eye test as a future NBA star. He does have a very confident and involved father (not quite on the level of LaVar Ball), who took an assistant coaching job at Missouri and now has two sons playing at the school.
LUKA DONCIC
The Knicks, under Phil Jackson, assembled quite a collection of foreign talent. If you count Turkish center Enes Kanter, the Knicks have five Euros on the roster – including three cornerstones in Porzingis, Ntilkikina and Hernangomez. So why not another one? Doncic, a Slovenian, is the top guard prospect of the 2018 draft, and already an accomplished pro at just 19 years old. He led Real Madrid into the EuroLeague Final 4 and aided teammate Goran Dragic in capturing the European title for Slovenia this summer.
Doncic is an elite passer at 6-foot-8, and is capable of playing either guard position or small forward. But as with many European prospects, there are questions about his athleticism translating to the NBA. Doncic won’t jump out of the gym, but he’ll kill the opponent with versatile skills. A Ntilikina-Hardaway Jr.-Doncic lineup sounds
appealing.