Official Draft Thread

[NYKnicks15]

yea magloire is always a possibility especially with orleans trying to unload and get younger which would make sense for the penny part (expiring contract) but Kurts 4 year deal maybe isnt as interesting to them but id love it none the less....i think Kwame if anyone is the biggest possiblity aswell as the maybe a slight chance at the disgruntled Eddy Curry...I think the roster will be really shaken up in the offseason or right before the tradedeadline.. but getting to the draft...

im still sticking with my bet at C Johan Petro, hes slated for late first round pick...now as i know he wont be automatically contributing its not all about a one year quick fix is it? and how many players are right away contributors in the first place?...

the question at the top was "consider what the team needs and what IT would pick"...and in his trip to Europe Isiah was very very fond of Petro aswell as reports that Isiah already has his eyes set on who he will be drafting...take that for whats its worth....

if we play it smart and GO to the lottery instead of a brief stint in the playoffs we get our 2 first round picks...so on that basis im kinda biased now that Charlie Villenueva has declared his name for the draft...this is going on Seniors and people slated to go on the draft of course..

C Johan Petro
C-F Charlie Villaneuva OR C-F Channing Frye
G BJ Elder

[mrj18]

I like Johan Petro and I'd say draft him. Too bad he has no offense though, but I'm sure Aguirre can turn him into something special.

The Knicks have no second round pick this year.

[NYKnicks15]

Yea great size, great shot blocker, great athleticism...no offense, skills are there just not a developed game but im sure Aguirre and if hes still here Herb can teach him like they did Sweets...

why dont we have a first rounder? because of the Tim Thomas trade???...we still have one from the Van Gundy ordeal..

[Peach_NYK_21]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

lol check that site out..

anyway, I think Villaneuva can really gown into a great center, and be one of the choices to our problem... hes got athletisim, and defense, and we've seen at times he has the ability to be a great offensive threat.. If we can get him armed with muscle and the right ideas on how to play, i believe he would fit right in... he is, ofcourse from brooklyn, so i feel he would love to play for the Knicks, like so many New York kids do.

[Brian_Coleman_21]

Lol, yah. He is so scary looking. Hey, maybe he will give our opponents some intimidation to play us??

Anyway, I agree with Peach, he is really built, fairly tall and can develop into a soild C. He is only a sophmore though, I think, so I don't know if he is coming out.

[Peach_NYK_21]

yeah, hes definently going into the draft, he announced it a couple days ago, and i cant imagine no team not wanting him, hes too good a player to go undrafted

[mrj18]

why dont we have a first rounder? because of the Tim Thomas trade???...we still have one from the Van Gundy ordeal..

Yeah and also when we got Maurice Taylor, we gave up a 2nd rounder to Houston.

I have a feeling we wont be able to draft Villanueva. I don't think he'll go to S.A. (really Phoenix's pick) our pick which will be around 27 and up.

[Peach_NYK_21]

if we really want too, we can take him with our second 1st round pick and take a guard first.. i dont think Petro or any other centers are that much better than Villaneuva... it will be interesting to see what zeke will do.

[Brian_Coleman_21]

Yah, taking a European center will be hard. We wouldn't want him to be a bust like Lampe so Villaneuva would be a good choice.

[Peach_NYK_21]

yeah, i think its hard to rate European players because if they're good they're good in Europe not over here.. that doesnt mean they can hang with guys from the NBA, if we do go with Villeaneuva or a guy from collegfe, atleast we know they can play with quality players, and will be more reliable than a european.

[mrj18]

Yah, taking a European center will be hard. We wouldn't want him to be a bust like Lampe so Villaneuva would be a good choice.

You can't say Lampe was a bust. He got little time and we all know Scott Layden utting him on the injured list. Basically he was dominating the summer leagues and played in preseason that's it. I mean the guy was 18 years old with tons of potential and talent who got NO burn. You can't call him a bust at such an early stage. He was a project and imagine if we had him and Aguirre transforming him in the post along with that long range shooting. We'd be working with a monster right now! A 7 footer who could shoot a 3 and post up? That would be lethal right there and he had tons of time...he was only 18 years old! People were also saying the same thing about Jermaine O'Neal when he got no burn and when he got the chance to prove himself, look what he turned into. I really think you're labeling as a bust way too soon. He has tons of time to grow.

European big men tend to be more fundamentally sound and also bring a nice shooting touch which will compliment Sweetney very well. But I understand you. Villanueva is kind of Skinny for the 5, but he's really talented and athletic. I wouldn't use a potential lottery pick on him, but I'd definitely draft him if he's around for our second pick in the first round. Many Mock drafts see him being a mid first rounder rather than a lottery pick.

Petro is very strong at 260, is athletic and has a great wingspan, size and speed. That's everything Isiah likes and even though he has no post game or offensive game, neither did a man named Nazr Mohammed. The only difference is that Mohammed was 27 while we have a young guy at 19 or 20. I'd definitely draft Petro. Once reports come in June, I look forward to seeing more of him.

[NYKnicks15]

yes we gave our 2006 2nd rounder which is our natural 2nd rounder, we had the possiblity of two 2nd rounders this year...we gave away our '06 (to houston) our 05 (to atlanta) and got one whenever we want to take it from Houston in the Van Gundy ordeal...

Yea European players are hard to rate seeing they play a very different style of ball, but then again so did College kids. Of course you would take Villaneuva over Petro first BUT that doesnt mean hes necessarily going to be better..no one can predict that...as you can see in Christian Laettner...

Anyone can be a bust, it just happens with a smaller ratio of foreigners people believe they are naturally worse to take a risk on...but i can guarantee you for the % of bad players that came from other countries (of the total that came here) theres less then the % of kids that came out of college or never made it after drafted for that matter...

i mean we seem to forget people like Yao Ming, Nene Hilario, Emanuel Ginoboli, Tony Parker, Carlos Arroyo, Pau Gazol, Jamaal Magloire, Dikembe Mutumbo, Steve Nash, Peja Stojacovic, Hidayet Turkoglu...i know thats not alot and there are tons more great american players but thats not the point...im just saying theres the same chance of someone coming from college being bad as someone coming from a different country...but we tend to focus on the Frederick Weis (who actually never played an nba game so were not sure how bad he sucked, besides for the one vince carter dunk)...i dont know just a thought...

by the way this is what i dug up so far..

COLLEGE BOUND
Gerald Green
Tasmin Mitchell
Brandon Rush
Daniel Gibson
JR Giddens
Julius Hodge

DRAFT BOUND
Andray Blatche
Byran Hopkins
Marcus Slaughter
Steven Smith
Monta Ellis

[mrj18]

So we do have a 2nd rounder this year?

I'd take Petro over Villanueva. Petro is more of what we need now. A good shot blocker and a good rebounder because by the start of next season, Kurt will most likely be gone. The Knicks need a shot blocker to make up for their horrible perimter defense. Villanueva is very good and is versatility is similar to a potential Lamar Odom, but that isn't the best decision. A potential Dalembert with a post game will help us tremendously.

I have a question for people here. If Petro and Villanueva are taken, who would you draft?

[NYKnicks15]

Id say, and in reasonablity of course, debating if we go for a smaller F or go for the backup guard possiblity

I dont know..I think Chris Taft comes to mind for early first round pick or Hakim Warrick and the late first Channing Frye...2nd rounder (if we use it this year) Luther Head or BJ Elder...remember if we do use our 2nd rounder (atlanta gets the earlier one)..

1st Round--Hakim Warrick & Channing Frye
2nd Round--BJ Elder

I made a mistake on the college bound, i believe Hodge is a senior..

[a knick fan]

i agree that petro may have upside potential and become a good center in the future, but dont expect him to do anything in the next 2-3 years. hes a kid. hes got a lot to learn. the only reason he will come to the draft so early is for the money, he probably knows himself that he doesnt belong in the nba right now. the team that drafts him shouldnt be looking to START him at center right away. theres no way he can do that.

i tried looking at his stats in europe, and i couldnt make them out because they were in a foreign language (so maybe someone can get firsthand info and confirm them), but from what i could tell hes not doing much in europe. if he cant dominate in europe, whats he gonna do here.

darko milicic. what about that guy from greece sofokolis shorstiantis or something, the "baby shaq" - whats he done? we shouldnt get so enamored with big men who we know nothing about and cant even dominate in europe.