New York Knicks: Ranking Isiah Thomas’ NBA draft picks as president
1. David Lee: Round 1, Pick 30 (2005)
The New York Knicks acquired the rights to the No. 30 pick of the 2005 NBA Draft in 2004, when Nazr Mohammed went to the San Antonio Spurs, who proceeded with the League’s best record in 2004-05 and landed at the bottom of the first round.
However, the player it became, David Lee, was the best draft pick in Isiah Thomas’ maligned tenure.
Lee was a steady player under the boards for his five years with the Knicks. His rebounding was stellar and the ability to find buckets in the paint was solid. It led to three double-double season averages.
2009-10, also a contract and All-Star year, was Lee’s best. His worked into 20.2 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. That seemingly deserved a new deal with the Knicks, but their sights were set on Amar’e Stoudemire, who became a free agent in the star-studded 2010 summer.
Lee left for his larger contract, and the Knicks acquired Ronny Turiaf, Kelenna Azubuike, Ronny Turiaf and two second-round picks in this sign-and-trade with the Golden State Warriors. None of those five pieces worked out, and the Florida product worked his success into a championship season in 2015.
Most of those five years in Golden State were disappointments in team record, but the landscape changed when Steve Kerr became the head coach. It was also in Lee’s final season as a Warrior, when his role diminished in favor of quicker, ball-moving players.
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Outside success aside, Lee was a terrific find for Thomas at the end of the first round. It trumped the others who arrived in this era, so not everything that happened through roughly five years was negative.