Knickpicking - New York Knicks, NBA

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NBA Draft Lottery

posted by airdisch vote down flag

ballhype.com - 7/25/2008

First of all I have to give credit to the New York Knicks for drafting a virtual nobody in front of all the crazy New York fans in the 2008 NBA Draft.

Unfortunatley, I can't really agree with the pick, as they took Danilo Gallinari. Gallinari isn't a bad player, but for the oppourtunity that the Knicks had to draft an established ballplayer I can't see why they took the 6"9 forward. On the board when the Knicks were on the clock: Eric Gordon, Brandon Rush, D.J Augustin, Jerryd Bayless, and Brook Lopez- all impact players who could help turn around the once-legendary franchise. Gallinari is a consistent shooter and solid passer who has a good basketball IQ, but one has to question if he is quite ready for the NBA. He is the antisthesis of quick, and for his size he isn't very strong. He also tends to gamble on defense and overall is a risk to put on the floor in crunch minutes because of his lack of defensive awareness.

A better fit: The Knicks are an interesting franchise right now, they have a lot of average players so its hard to decide what position they need most. In the end, i believe the best pick for them would be Jerryd Bayless. Bayless has tremendous potential, he is extremly quick, strong, and is a nightmare for opponents on defense. He plays better than his 1 steal per game average, he forces turnovers on defense and is a great leader on the court. Averaging 4 assists per game, he is a good point guard, although he could improve his court vision. He shot 40% from three, which is average but he found ways to get the ball in the basket which shows in his 19.7 points per game.

The Knicks need a solid defender on the court, their defense last year was subpar. Then again, it seems the entire leauge decided to stop caring about defense, just ask Jerry Sloan, he seems to be teaching real fundamental defense...