March Madness has arrived and the New York Knicks will surely be keeping a close eye on how some of the top prospects slated to enter the NBA Draft will perform under the bright lights.
The Knicks are currently teetering back and forth from being one of the very bottom teams in the league to being in the play-in tournament. With the NBA Draft being a lottery, it’s hard to tell where they’ll be selecting this offseason.
New York Knicks: March Madness NBA Draft Prospects
There are plenty of ways the Knicks could go in the 2022 NBA Draft. This is a team that’s far from drafting for “need” and is really here to draft whoever is at the top of their board.
It’s safe to say the Knicks will be in the lottery, but exactly where they’ll land remains a mystery. Not just because of the randomness that comes with the process, but because any late-season winning streak or losing streak could still drastically impact where they wind up.
The 2022 NCAA Tournament will feature a ton of the draft’s marquee names and a large chunk of the first round. Here are some of the players the Knicks may target.
March Madness NBA Draft Prospects — Keegan Murray
The safest assumption would be that the Knicks will be picking somewhere in the middle of the draft lottery — perhaps somewhere in the 6-10 range. That’s right around where Iowa forward Keegan Murray projects to go.
Wing players might not be the most pressing roster need for New York. RJ Barrett and Evan Fournier are holding down a ton of minutes and young wings Cam Reddish and Quentin Grimes are right behind them.
Murray is probably more of a 4 than a 3, which is yet another position occupied by multiple Knicks. And yet, they might find Murray’s skillset too tantalizing to pass up. Locking up a player like Murray into a rookie contract would certainly be a good insurance policy if some of the other Knicks players don’t last very long (or the front office decides to make some trades).
Murray’s versatile skillset and defense are attributes you won’t find on this current roster. He’s an incredibly aware player with instincts for the game that few prospects have. He’s the type of “connector” and “glue guy” that could help this Knicks team be a more cohesive unit.
He’s been the most important part of a resilient Iowa Hawkeyes team that will look to make a run this March Madness. The energy he brings and the way he can play a variety of roles at a high level due to his terrific measurables may be enough to woo New York into adding him to their young core.