New York Knicks lottery advice in preparation for the 2020 NBA Draft
By Ken Tavarez
Knicks lottery advice: Draft the best player available
While the Knicks desperately need to find a player that can initiate offense, preferably from the point guard position. They should instead select the most talented prospect. It can cause depth issues in the short term, but it always pays off in the end. Drafting the best player available allows a team to cast a wider net. When trying to understand the reasons why the Knicks had passed on future all-stars in the draft you will notice a common theme: the Knicks were drafting for need.
In 2017, the Knicks chose to draft Frank Ntilikina instead of Donovan Mitchell or Bam Adebayo. While their assessment of the available point guards was correct, Frank has been better Dennis Smith Jr., they lost sight of the ultimate goal. Focused on filling the gaping hole at point guard, coupled with the commitment to high-priced veterans at shooting guard and center served as blinders. Looking back now, it is hard for the Knicks to justify missing out on those players simply because they had money committed to Joakim Noah and Courtney Lee.
The same can be said of the 2018 draft. New York desperately needed a small forward to replace Carmelo Anthony. They chose Kevin Knox, who to be fair was viewed as a prospect that needed time to develop. However, the Knicks missed out on fellow Kentucky Wildcat, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) because of Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee (again). At least the Knicks didn’t make the same mistake last year, they took R.J. Barrett even though they desperately needed a power forward to replace Kristaps Porzingis.