The New York Knicks may be getting closer to the 2021 NBA Draft on July 29th, but their plan for that day remains shrouded in mystery.
Knicks fans are used to picking in the lottery, and at the very least, having a narrow 3-5 prospects that they can expect the team to select. Having two 1st round picks outside of the lottery is a lot different. There are various avenues the team could explore in the upcoming draft.
New York Knicks: The 2021 NBA Draft is loaded with high-ceiling talent
The 2021 NBA draft class has been talked about for years now. It can be easy to dismiss the strength of “draft classes” when they’re still young or if you haven’t followed the class in years prior – but the amount of highly touted prospects for the class of 2021 dips all the way into the 2nd round.
There are many who believe the top 4 picks of this draft, the Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green, Evan Mobley, Jalen Suggs tier of players, are even more valuable than the number 1 pick in last year’s draft.
For the New York Knicks, they’re going to be drafting in spots where there will be plenty of high-end talent left.
So what should they do with their picks? Does their head coach prevent them from gambling on more “boom-or-bust” prospects?
New York Knicks: Tom Thibodeau can develop young players
There is a stigma attached to New York Knicks’ head coach Tom Thibodeau that he doesn’t develop his young players. He’s a stubborn, grouchy old man who just won’t commit to the “new wave” of basketball and he’s only going to play his trusted veterans.
It’s a pretty easy narrative to attach to a coach who’s known for being “old-school”, but really, I’m not exactly sure how much truth there is to it.
I’m trying to think of the young players that Tom Thibodeau held back in all of his years coaching. Players who couldn’t break free of the Thibodeau dog house and went on to develop into terrific players elsewhere… I’m drawing blanks.
He seemed to lean heavily on his young star Derrick Rose in Chicago.
Jimmy Butler, who Thibodeau drafted with the 30th pick in 2011, was playing 26 minutes per game in his sophomore season and leading the NBA in minutes by his 3rd.
Sophomore-year RJ Barrett started every game in 2020-21.
Rookie Immanuel Quickley, the 25th pick in last year’s draft, finished the season averaging 19.4 minutes per game and being named to an All-Rookie 2nd team. You can nit-pick at Quickley’s role throughout the season, but really, most fans should be very happy with both Quickley and Obi Toppin’s development throughout the year.
I am far from calling Thibodeau a patient development coach. He may have his “Thibs guys” and he may preach work ethic over talent, but some players are built for that environment.
The Tom Thibodeau “lunch pale”, “blue-collar”, “sports cliche about hard work” attitude is fully entrenched into the recently sewn fabric of the new-look New York Knicks.
So now the questions are, how can they build off of their first season, and who should they be looking for in the draft?
Are the New York Knicks contending next season?
Barring something drastic, it’s highly unlikely that the New York Knicks will be in a position where there’s a single “no brainer pick”.
Trading up in the draft should absolutely be an option. If the team was able to create a package of picks and land a James Bouknight or Moses Moody, it should be considered a success.
Still, the team doesn’t need to be attached to the idea of needing to trade-up in the NBA draft.
The idea the New York Knicks are in a “win now” mode stems from the fact the organization and fanbase are so far removed from playoff basketball that suddenly, New York is in the “1 offseason away from championship-contending” status.
This isn’t to say New York can’t build off of their magical 2021 season.
This team still has to catch up with the top-dogs of the Eastern Conference such as the Bucks, Nets, 76ers, and Hawks. That’s not to mention other teams who have longer track records of winning than New York – the Celtics and the Heat.
It seems like the combination of being unfamiliar with winning basketball and Thibodeau’s perceived reputation of being allergic to younger players has molded some arguments as to what the team should do during the draft.
Really, there is no single “correct approach” for an NBA Draft unless you’re absolutely in “win-a-title-or-bust” mode, or you have the number 1 pick.
The only approach should be sticking to your big board and maximizing value.
If the team trades up to the 15th spot and selects a prospect who was ranked 9th on their big board – fantastic. If they draft 2 players who they had 13th and 18th on their board with picks 19 and 21 – fantastic.
So what is the shortlist of players the New York Knicks could go for in the NBA Draft?
New York Knicks: Value is everything in the NBA Draft
Get the best player available. Especially when you have two mid-1st round picks just 2 spots apart.
Without getting into any deep dives of prospect analysis, I can do some “realistic” forecasting of who the Knicks may go for.
Dividing the prospects up into 3 categories: The trade-up targets, the safe picks, and the high-ceiling picks.
The trade-up targets:
- James Bouknight
- Davion Mitchell
- Moses Moody
- Keon Johnson
- Josh Giddey
When it comes to trading up, Moody and Bouknight are the most popular names but don’t completely rule out one of the more “unknown” high-ceiling players like Giddey and Johnson.
Giddey has incredible playmaking and size on the wing that is absent from the New York Knicks’ current roster, and Keon Johnson is a top-8 player on a lot of boards due to his record-breaking athleticism and potential as a scorer.
The safe picks
- Jared Butler
- Corey Kispert
- Chris Duarte
All great options who could fit into a part of New York’s rotation right away. You can always use more shooting and all of these prospects can bring that to the team’s offense.
This isn’t to poo-poo what these players can be down the line in their careers, but more so to highlight their ability to immediately step into a role. They could be valuable additions to New York’s 2021-22 rotation.
The high-ceiling picks
- Ziaire Williams
- Tre Mann
- Sharife Cooper
- Jared Springer
- Isaiah Jackson
A wide variety of players with different skillsets and projections, but I think one of these five players should 100% be on the Knicks’ roster next season.
Again, there is no single way to do this. Maybe the ideal setup would be to draft one of the more raw prospects with one pick and a more surefire player with the other? Kispert/Springer? Duarte/Ziaire? Butler/Jackson?
What do you want the Knicks to do in the upcoming draft?