Since 2000, the Knicks have been far from a good franchise, only making the playoffs eight times in the span of 23 years. Recently, though, New York has seen much higher levels of success. Not only have the Knicks made the playoffs in two of the last three years, but they were just two wins from an Eastern Conference Finals appearance this past season.
A big reason for any team’s success has to do with how well they draft. If a team drafts well, its future will only get brighter. However, if they continuously make poor decisions on draft night, they’ll be in a situation similar to the Knicks in the last 20 years.
Grades for every New York Knicks first-round draft pick since 2013:
2013 NBA Draft: SG/SF Tim Hardaway, B
For being the 24th overall pick in the NBA Draft, Tim Hardaway has had a pretty solid career thus far. He’s been nowhere near a star, but he’s been a good role player for both the Knicks and Mavericks.
Hardaway spent two seasons with the Knicks in which he averaged 10.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists while shooting 40.8% from the field and 35.3% from beyond the arc on 4.7 attempts. However, after his two seasons, he was traded to the Hawks for rights to Jerian Grant.
Following a couple of seasons in Atlanta, Hardaway would make his grand return to the Knicks where he’d be the number one option for one of the worst teams in the league. After a season and a half, though, he was packaged in the Kristaps Porzingis trade and sent to Dallas.
Hardaway was a solid pick for how late the Knicks selected in the 2013 draft. While Rudy Gobert was selected three picks later, fans can’t blame New York for not taking him. The Knicks already had Tyson Chandler and Andrea Bargnani and likely didn’t want to take on a project center on what was supposed to be a contending team.