New York Knicks lottery advice in preparation for the 2020 NBA Draft
By Ken Tavarez
Knicks lottery advice: Eye for talent and focus on development
Even if they change their approach, identifying the right player isn’t easy. This is were Walt Perrin, the new assistant GM that just came over from the Utah Jazz comes into play. After all, he was the architect behind Utah’s selection of Donovan Mitchell.
When looking back at the players that exceeded their draft selection, there are two reasons that stood out. The first was that they had an exceptional talent to work with. For Devin Booker it was his outside shooting. For Donovan Mitchell it was his ability to get to the rim. Giannis, Kawhi and Paul George were great athletes with exceptional size that just needed to develop their raw skill set.
For development to occur, you need two things: a mature, focused and driven player; and a supportive organization. Aside from Devin Booker, the other four players highlighted above went to well-run organizations that have good reputations for developing players. Donovan Mitchell was able to take his game to the next level by improving his shooting. Giannis, Kahwi and Paul George were able to refine their skill sets as role players on good teams before evolving into stars.
It would behoove Leon Rose and the Knicks to create an environment and culture that allows this type of development, especially with the bevy of draft picks they have over the next four seasons. This will also be the first draft were the Knicks have the resources necessary (picks, young players and cap space) to move across the draft board to land that special player that has been eluding them for too long.