The 2017 NBA Draft is officially in the books. Were the New York Knicks amongst the winners or losers from the highly-anticipated event?
With arguably the longest night in New York Knicks history in the rear-view (Can we quadruple check that Phil Jackson didn’t secretly trade Kristpas Porzingis for slice of $0.99 pizza?), we are now officially in the offseason in the NBA.
With that being said: It’s time to reflect on the winners and losers of the 2017 NBA Draft, and send these GM’s back to school by grading their every move, division by division.
ATLANTIC DIVISION:
Boston Celtics: A-
Additions: No. 3 Jayson Tatum, No. 37 Semi Ojeleye, No. 53 Kadeem Allen, No. 56 Jabari Bird, 2018 Lakers 1st round pick OR 2018 Kings 1st round pick
Those pesky Boston Celtics kept on pushing the Kristaps Porzingis, button but despite their bvvy of picks, were unable to capture the unicorn. Instead, they flipped the No. 1 pick overall to move down to No. 3 and select their guy in Jayson Tatum and net a future first rounder from either the Lakers or the Kings.
Tatum projects to be a small-ball power forward who can play alongside Jaylen Brown in the future, while also contributing from day one. Semi Ojeleye can easily crack the rotation and become a younger, more dynamic scorer off the bench while Kadeem Allen and Jabari Bird will, in all likelihood, end up in the G League.
Toronto Raptors: B+
Additions: No. 23 OG Anunoby
This could easily be an A+ if OG Anunoby recovers well. The Toronto Raptors were in a precarious position to either draft-and-stash to save cap space to sign some of their marquee free agents (Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka, PJ Tucker, Patrick Patterson), or get a guy who can contribute to a long playoff run this season.
I’m not quite sure they did either with Anunoby coming off of an ACL injury. Anunoby may not ready to contribute right away, and takes up cap room that is going to be valuable to Masai Ujiri this summer. If Anunoby is healthy, the Raptors landed a steal and will have flexibility to either let P.J. Tucker walk or move DeMarre Carroll.
Anunoby can create a scary wing defensive unit alongside Norman Powell.
New York Knicks: B+
Additions: No. 8 Frank Ntilikina, No. 44 Dameyean Dotson, No. 58 Ognjen Jaramaz
OK New York Knicks fans, let’s be honest here: this draft could have been MUCH worse. Kristaps Porzingis is still on the roster, and the Knicks added Frank Ntilikina: a long, athletic, defensive dynamo who can rip it from deep.
Ntilikina may need some time to develop (or not: see KP in 2015), but with the state of the franchise, that’s probably a good thing. We may look back and regret not taking Dennis Smith Jr., who to me has Damian Lillard potential, but Ntilikina has all the tools to be an All-Star.
Yeah, I said it, Fran Fraschilla—ALL-STAR.
Jaramaz is a stash project. Dotson has range for days, and can be an immediate contributor off the bench. Take a sigh of relief New York—better days are ahead.
Philadelphia 76ers: A+
Additions: No. 1 Markelle Fultz, No. 25 Anzejs Pasecniks, No. 36 Jonah Bolden, No. 50 Mathias Lessort
Sam Hinkie, your memory lives on. After years of bottom-barrel basketball and multiple picks that make you scratch your head, the Philadelphia 76ers now have a nucleus.
Fultz-Simmons-Saric-Embiid and maybe Okafor is a young, multi-faceted, athletic, and promising core that can have the Sixers competing in due time. Stashing big men Anzejs Pasecniks and Mathias Lessort was smart (along with already stashed Furkan Korkmaz), and Jonah Bolden has a chance to make the roster.
Now the Sixers need to figure out how to assemble all this young talent into a competitive team. It won’t be easy (ask the Timberwolves from 2014-to-2017), but it may pay off sooner than later (see: the Timberwolves today).
Brooklyn Nets: A-
Additions: No. 22 Jarrett Allen, No. 57 Aleksander Vezenkov, D’Angelo Russell, Timofey Mozgov
Not having the luxury of picking No. 1 due to boneheaded management in 2013 will hurt Brooklyn Nets fans for years to come. They did, however, come away with a pretty nice haul.
Trading Brook Lopez and the 27th pick for D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov was a realization that Lopez is not rebuilding material. Russell still has franchise point guard potential.
Jarrett Allen needs some work, but with his length, he could be Brook Lopez’s long term replacement.