You’re always supposed to expect the unexpected from the New York Knicks, right? Right. But nobody saw this coming. And to be honest, it’s impossible to define what happened in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft.
The Knicks didn’t trade up into the top five for Jaden Ivey, who went No. 5 to the Detroit Pistons. At least there was still hope with the No. 11 pick. Oh, but New York traded Ousmane Dieng, the No. 11 pick, to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Knicks acquired Jalen Duren, the No. 13 pick, from the Charlotte Hornets, but the draft rights to Duren were traded to the Pistons. If you’re keeping trying to keep track, that means that Detroit finished the first round with both Ivey and Duren.
And who did New York end up with? No one. But the Knicks did lose one player, Kemba Walker, who was traded to the Pistons. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Walker and Detroit are expected to agree to a buyout so that the point guard can enter free agency.
There’s a lot that happened on Thursday night and the reason why it all happened is unclear, but it seems as if the Knicks are clearing cap space in preparation for free agency. Here’s the most simplified version of what went down.
What the Knicks did tonight:
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) June 24, 2022
NYK trades 11th pick to OKC
OKC trades 3 firsts (23 DEN, DET, WASH) to NYK
NYK then trades 23 DEN, 4 seconds to CHA for 13th pick
NYK then trade 13th pick & Kemba Walker to DET for MKE's 25 first
NYK trades 11, Kemba, 4 2nds & gets 3 future 1sts
Knicks fans take to Twitter to react to 2022 NBA Draft confusion
The only thing that there is to do now is to laugh at the pain and hope that somehow, someway all of this will work itself out. Let’s take a look at some of our favorite tweets of the night.
Jaden Ivey being traded to the Knicks pic.twitter.com/0NpxOnm2Xi
— The Knicks Wall (@TheKnicksWall) June 24, 2022
Too soon? Maybe.
The Knicks have me FLABBERGASTED and BAMBOOZLED
— KEST (@AdamKester_) June 24, 2022
we’ve been SHMECKLEDORFED
You know, we’ve all been in search of a word to sum up what happened on draft night and ‘SHMECKLEDORFED’ just might be it.
ME TRYNA FIGURE OUT WTF THE KNICKS DOIN RN pic.twitter.com/QzJpcJNlQR
— THE KID MERO 🇩🇴 (@THEKIDMERO) June 24, 2022
You’re not alone, Mero.
Whatever the Knicks are doing, they might want to leak it now before the torches and pitchforks converge on MSG.
— Steve Popper (@StevePopper) June 24, 2022
We’re about to go full Shrek!
Not looking forward to Ousmane Dieng's 11 all star appearances over the next 15 years. He probably was gonna be a bust under any other circumstances but because the Knicks gave him away he's gonna be a monster
— Toby Jaffe (@JaffeToby) June 24, 2022
You know what? This is going to be exactly what happens.
draft night in a nutshell pic.twitter.com/WaY192MDxT
— rads (@rads619) June 24, 2022
We’re in pain.
Knicks’ first-round haul >>> pic.twitter.com/VlCB3fO4yU
— Daily Knicks (@DailyKnicksFS) June 24, 2022
Oh, that’s us! Ah, what a night.
Well, anyways, welcome to New York, Trevor Keels! At least the Knicks walked away from the draft with that victory.
Knicks dump Kemba Walker and go trade crazy on 2022 draft night
New York Knicks fans had high hopes for the 2022 NBA Draft, but it didn't take long for them to be left confused by the unknown motives of the front office.