NY Knicks: 1 draft prospect from each Final Four team
The 2022 NBA Draft is right around the corner, but before then, we New York Knicks fans get to feast our eyes on the NCAA’s elite during the Final Four. Players have gone from nobodies to lottery picks just by having exceptional performances during the last couple of legs of March Madness.
For example, last season I wrote a similar article and highlighted Quentin Grimes and how he willed a not-so-great Houston Cougars team into the Final Four essentially on his own. As we know, Grimes was eventually drafted No. 25 overall by New York after originally being viewed as an early to mid-second-round pick.
Although Houston was knocked out by Baylor, Grimes played great and boosted his draft stock. He also received more eyeballs on him throughout the months between the end of the tourney and the draft.
This year, there’s even more intrigue for the Knicks because they’re likely going to have a top 10 selection. While this season’s class isn’t as beefed up as last year, there are still plenty of names to keep an eye out for.
4 Final Four players the New York Knicks could draft in 2022
1. AJ Griffin – Duke Blue Devils
AJ, otherwise known as Adrian Griffin Jr., son of the former NBA player of the same name, is a 19-year-old big wing from Duke. He brings intensity on both the offensive and defensive sides of the floor.
Griffin stands at 6-foot-6, 210 pounds with a whopping seven-foot wingspan. His size and intangibles actually remind me a bit of New York’s current star RJ Barrett, as he’s not your prototypical 6-foot-8 small forward, but can hang with the best of them even while a tad undersized.
Griffin is just naturally gifted. Having a father who played professionally has helped him grow an advanced understanding of the game of basketball. His IQ is off the charts in comparison to the rest of the 2022 class, and while he does primarily get by with his knowledge of the game, he’s still an athletic specimen.
Griffin’s averaging 10.5 points and 3.9 rebounds in his lone season with the Blue Devils, but the main stat that stands out to me is his 3-point shooting percentage. The kid’s shooting nearly 46% from deep on over four attempts per game. Those are elite shooting numbers at the NBA level, let alone college.
Now, the Knicks are extremely wing-heavy so I’d imagine that they’d be making at least a few moves before pulling the trigger on a player like Griffin. However, they’ve seen what kind of success can be had when drafting stars out of Duke, and in this case, lightning could very well strike twice.