Gotta give Walsh some credit here (re: Centers)

SSj4Wingzero

All Star
Like many folks on this board, I was rather upset that the Knicks passed on Solomon Alabi in the draft earlier this year - after all, we needed a center, and Alabi was projected as a late first-round pick.

Of course, Walsh later acquired the rights to sign Jerome Jordan. He also picked up Timofey Mozgov on a 3 year contract (only the first year is guaranteed as far as I know).

The NY Post's Marc Berman reported that one executive considered Mozgov to be a mid first-round pick if he had been in the draft earlier this year.

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/exec_mozgov_has_st_round_talent_pSEfalhG21kwXr6H3c7syN

Don't get me wrong. I still believe that Andy Rautins and Landry Fields were not the best draft choices (I personally would've used one of my picks on BORN READY and another one on Alabi and then if I really wanted Rautins and Fields simply undrafted FA sign them), and it still doesn't make sense to me to draft either of those two over Solomon Alabi - but at the very least, I have to give Walsh credit for obtaining two decent center prospects in Mozgov and Jerome Jordan.

That being said, if Born Ready ends up dropping 15 PPG this year I'm going to blow a fuse, but other than that...I'd say Walsh has made up for his draft choice, hm?
 

DieHardPassion

Benchwarmer
Indeed Walsh should be credited

No disrespect but I believe Solomon Alabi and Lance Stephenson are not NBA ready anyways. Alabi is not much or not at all better than Jordan which really exemplifies why he dropped so low on the draft. Stephenson had a great Summer League but again its just the Summer League and the way he plays seems more of a street-ball style. Up against better defenders and a faster pace in the NBA, I don't think he's BORN READY yet but I may be wrong. On the other hand I'm not saying Rautins or Fields are great picks but they're not bad picks either. You really can't expect much from them since the Knicks kinda has their core roster intact for the season so it won't matter if BORN READY gets 15 ppg cause if he was at the Knicks he wouldn't have gotten that opportunity. Than there's the Russian center Mozgov is going to be given a longer look and a greater consideration. Knicks are trying everything they can to come up with pieces that will make the team seem more appealing.
 

SSj4Wingzero

All Star
The Knicks don't have a shooting guard, that position is up for grabs. If Born Ready impressed, he could've gotten that spot.
 

Paul1355

All Star
Like many folks on this board, I was rather upset that the Knicks passed on Solomon Alabi in the draft earlier this year - after all, we needed a center, and Alabi was projected as a late first-round pick.

Of course, Walsh later acquired the rights to sign Jerome Jordan. He also picked up Timofey Mozgov on a 3 year contract (only the first year is guaranteed as far as I know).

The NY Post's Marc Berman reported that one executive considered Mozgov to be a mid first-round pick if he had been in the draft earlier this year.

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/exec_mozgov_has_st_round_talent_pSEfalhG21kwXr6H3c7syN

Don't get me wrong. I still believe that Andy Rautins and Landry Fields were not the best draft choices (I personally would've used one of my picks on BORN READY and another one on Alabi and then if I really wanted Rautins and Fields simply undrafted FA sign them), and it still doesn't make sense to me to draft either of those two over Solomon Alabi - but at the very least, I have to give Walsh credit for obtaining two decent center prospects in Mozgov and Jerome Jordan.

That being said, if Born Ready ends up dropping 15 PPG this year I'm going to blow a fuse, but other than that...I'd say Walsh has made up for his draft choice, hm?
who is born ready?

And Fields is a sleeper, this kid is playing very well in summer league and has a knack for the game and a great court savvy, I can see him getting minutes off the bench this year at the 2 and 3.

Jordan is a project but he is better than getting no big man in the draft.

I like Mozgov so far, huge big man with athleticism...lets see how his bball IQ is. Pairing him with Amare and Gallo makes us have a huge team.

I give Walsh alot of credit. just when I thought we'd get crushed by big man for the millionth year in a row, we finally are full at PF and C on the depth chart.

We have 4 guys that can play PF and C in Randolph, Amare, Tauriaf, Gallo(PF) and Mozgov/Jordan/Curry making us have 6 potential centers.

We are FINALLY stacked at PF and C which we have not been in years.

And we have defensive shotblocking/rebounding front court...im very excited.
 

DieHardPassion

Benchwarmer
The Knicks don't have a shooting guard, that position is up for grabs. If Born Ready impressed, he could've gotten that spot.

But that's the problem because if he was at the Knicks he wouldn't have the opportunity to impress the way he did in Pacers' summer league. In the Pacers he was playing point guard and that was what helped make his stats looked impressive in the first place. In the Knicks he would have had to play off the ball which everybody says he's not good at. He's not the guy for the Knicks cause he also can't shoot and has limited range. I'm pretty sure about what I'm saying and this argument. He probably would have been a bust in the Knicks because of the limited opportunities.
 

SSj4Wingzero

All Star
And? Born Ready is also a raw player...he has so much talent, in 2-3 years time he could've been something amazing. He certainly has a much higher ceiling than Andy Rautins, a player who even at his best projects to be no more than a sharpshooter off the bench.
 

mafra

Legend
Like that article on Mozgov says, he's a mid-1st round pick had he been in this year's draft....

So, when you look at the fact that Walsh brought in 4 young prospects:

Rautins
Fields
Jordan
Mozgov


.... Well, you have to give him credit. Will BORN READY, or somebody else taken after our 2 selections, be a truly productive NBA player? Maybe. Perhaps. Will it be grosser than taking JR KOCH over MANU GINIBOLI? Who knows. But we have to admit we did grab a nice haul!

I think Fields might actually be the steal of the 2nd round. He has a 10-year NBA career written all over him. He may prove to be nothing more than a reserve, role player.... But he will stick around for a while. He's got game and he can find a way to put the ball in the net. At best he becomes our starting SG, but most likely he'll be the 8th man off the bench or something. Get 12-18 minutes and get us about 8 ppg.

Lance Stephenson would have had a difficult time here in NY. Lots of pressure on him. And the fact is with Felton he wouldn't really have time to come into his own. I'm sure a guy like Felton would have been good for him to learn his game, but I think he's probably better off in the middle of nowhere (in INDY), where he'll get some quality minutes.

I think Rautins is overwhelmed. We'll get nothing from him this year. But I suspect he'll work hard, grind it out, and we might recoup something down the road. PROJECT. Personally, I would send him to the D-League and let him develop (or go overseas). I would prefer we have Ewing or Landry at the end of the bench.

Mozgov will get his shot this year to grow, and this is good for Jordan (b/c he wont be thrust into the thick of things). I think BOTH have potential to be interior role players with value. Remember the old Indy team with Smits and the two Davis dudes. Well, they have this type of potential.
 

metrocard

Legend
Lance Stephenson would of been ready for New York for one reason. He's dynamic naturally. If he's not scoring, he will be passing. If he's not passing, he will be scoring. He has an all around game that would of contributed a lot to this roster.

Sadly, we have Rautins...
 

mafra

Legend
Lance Stephenson would of been ready for New York for one reason. He's dynamic naturally. If he's not scoring, he will be passing. If he's not passing, he will be scoring. He has an all around game that would of contributed a lot to this roster.

Sadly, we have Rautins...


Amen. Stephenson-Fields-Mozgov-Jordan would have been a near-legendary coup for a team w/out a 1st round pick.

This is why I was so upset. With 2 back-2-back picks, we should have swung for the fences with one selection and then taken the safe route with the other. Knowing we have Jordan-Mozgov in our sights, then we were left knowing we needed just a SG (and probably a PG).

I think what we did was go the alternative path: We went safe with one pick (Fields). It was obvious we wanted a jack-of-all-trades SF/SG combo in the mold of T-Prince. We ALMOST landed Hobson, but were forced to settle for Fields. Then, instead of swinging away (hit-or-miss), we opted to take the most Lebron-friendly guy on our draft board.... And this was either a PG or a sniper. Since no true PG was available, we took the shooter.

I bet if we knew then what we know now (Lebron wasn't coming), then I bet we go in another direction.

Give INdy credit. They'll making Lance a PG. They saw something we missed.
 

Scribbles

Rotation player
I think we only passed on Born Ready with the assumption that we would nab LeBron James. Hence, no reason for Lance to be on the team...

Another reason to piss on LeBron when he comes to the Garden.

How do you pass up the most acclaimed NYC HS Star to date TWICE.

At least Cleveland didnt make the same mistake.

If the NBA didnt have that NCAA rule it now has in place, Lance would have been a lottery pick last year. Based on his HS performance.

He was a HS PHENOM!
 

Lilnickywood20

Benchwarmer
I agree and disagree with the posts above;

First things first; Donnie has done an amazing job in the last 6 months with the knicks organisation

And Secondly Mozgov looked like a done deal before the draft; just needed time to get his visa together; His agent stated he wanted to play in New York; therefor show up after. Jerome Jordan also may have been in the making during/right after the draft.

Therefore at picks 38-39; the knicks needed to look at the roster. Lance Stephenson is not the pure shooter we need in the 7sec offense; draft Andy Rautins out of cuse. He is also loved by many fans due to his nature of NY. Andy is a pure shooter; we only had one other pure shooter; Gallo. Douglas and Walker can shoot; they've got other roles. We needed a 3 off the bench.
39th Pick; lets go for a prospect; Landry Fields, who I was not originally high on, looked GREAT in the Summer League.

Therefore great draft; we got 4 draft picks; all important spots in Knicks offense and defense.
 

SSj4Wingzero

All Star
Andy Rautins is CANADIAN.

We drafted a CANADIAN who projects to be a BENCH SHARPSHOOTER over BORN READY out of NYC

That's sad.

You don't pick players just cause they'll fit into your offensive scheme better. You pick players because they're the best players available. Andy Rautins certainly was not the best player available. Lance could've been an amazing player for us - a shooting guard with the athleticism to dominate the opposition...but no, we go for a player with a ceiling that's at best a 12 minute bench sharpshooter
 

Paul1355

All Star
Andy Rautins is CANADIAN.

We drafted a CANADIAN who projects to be a BENCH SHARPSHOOTER over BORN READY out of NYC

That's sad.

You don't pick players just cause they'll fit into your offensive scheme better. You pick players because they're the best players available. Andy Rautins certainly was not the best player available. Lance could've been an amazing player for us - a shooting guard with the athleticism to dominate the opposition...but no, we go for a player with a ceiling that's at best a 12 minute bench sharpshooter
steve nash is also Canadian...be optimistic about Rautins
 

DieHardPassion

Benchwarmer
And? Born Ready is also a raw player...he has so much talent, in 2-3 years time he could've been something amazing. He certainly has a much higher ceiling than Andy Rautins, a player who even at his best projects to be no more than a sharpshooter off the bench.

Maybe it's just me but I personally don't like Stephenson's style of play and attitude. Maybe he'll actually be effective in the NBA but to me he'll be a bust like Sebastian Telfair.
 

SSj4Wingzero

All Star
Well, yeah, but with 2nd round picks you always take a gamble.

Stephenson if he busted would've been Sebastian Telfair.

Rautins if he busts is headed off to Europe.

Which one seems smarter to you?
 

jzero29

Rotation player
Like that article on Mozgov says, he's a mid-1st round pick had he been in this year's draft....

So, when you look at the fact that Walsh brought in 4 young prospects:

Rautins
Fields
Jordan
Mozgov
Don't forget randolph, He's young and has potential. Admit, don't know much about him, but he reminds me of camby in he's tall and thin. I'd like that my team.

I think we only passed on Born Ready with the assumption that we would nab LeBron James. Hence, no reason for Lance to be on the team...

Another reason to piss on LeBron when he comes to the Garden.

How do you pass up the most acclaimed NYC HS Star to date TWICE.

At least Cleveland didnt make the same mistake.

If the NBA didnt have that NCAA rule it now has in place, Lance would have been a lottery pick last year. Based on his HS performance.

He was a HS PHENOM!
Sebajin telfare was a HS phenom...where is he playing now? HS doesn't mean sht. So how'd he do as 1st year guy in college? where 95% of the guys are not NBA talent? I'm not being sarcastic, I don't know.

Andy Rautins is CANADIAN.

We drafted a CANADIAN who projects to be a BENCH SHARPSHOOTER over BORN READY out of NYC

That's sad.

You don't pick players just cause they'll fit into your offensive scheme better. You pick players because they're the best players available. Andy Rautins certainly was not the best player available. Lance could've been an amazing player for us - a shooting guard with the athleticism to dominate the opposition...but no, we go for a player with a ceiling that's at best a 12 minute bench sharpshooter
HAHA He's canadian, LMAO
1 thats hysterical
2 it's a little biased.
3 steve nash is canadian(I know he's not nash quality)
4 I know he's no david lee, but no one liked him as a draft pick, when it happend, but he was great, the best draft pick we've had in forever. Name one more productive. I cant think of anyone since patrick ewing sr mark jackson, don't know who was drafted last, That we drafted that was as good as him. Pat was way better. Am I missing someone?

no one liked lee, because he was a white guy, that was good but not a well know guy. He wasthe best draft pick since i guess ewing/jackson days... i believe. Lee still gets no repect as a 20pt 10rb guy. We signed amare, who is a great athlete, avg 23 and 9, as a featured guy with the help of Nash. Lee 20 and 12 as a the only reliable option on the knicks. with the help of duhon?? very smilar, Sure amare is taller by 1 inch, a little more flashy, avg less the 1 blck more again...lee avged less then 1 more steal and more rebounds, 2 less points. Took about same # of shots last year, and the amare with a little more, and they only avged 2 points difference. They are on the stat sheet the same player. David lee hustles all the time. Pretty much put up all star numbers, with no help from elsewhere. But he got his points.
 
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ronoranina

Fundamentally Sound
D'ant knows what he had in Lee, a player that got good numbers on an awful team. The point is that someone has to get the numbers. Lee plays no defense and doesn't make players around him better. He was a good draft pick. Yea he was a find in the draft, but not the kind of player you would build a team around.

Please do not compare Lee to Amare, who's a 5 time all-star, who has ridiculous quickness for a big, and can rise and yam over anybody. They both have a 15 - 17 foot jumpshot, but Amare's is better. I like Lee. But those of you that think he's comparable to Amare are just delluting yourselves. He's an expendable player.
 
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