Thanks Marek. Appreciate the kind words my friend..
Yeah, I'm really not sure what Tommy sees in this kid -- not much apparently, from what he's had to say about him the past couple of weeks. I see a guy with a ton of talent. A guy that can impact many different areas of the game, not just scoring..First and foremost, he's a SG with good size and AWESOME length who scores the ball at will..He can score it on anybody.. Nobody out there in this draft can go get his shot better than this kid---just look at what Klay Thompson had to say about him after the Knick workout -- Thompson said, among other things, that Brooks (paraphrasing from what I remember): "...can really make you look stupid out there with his handle. He's very talented. He's got that NY streetball game." That last part about being a NY streetballer is up for interpretation, but I'm almost 99% sure Klay meant it as a compliment..But the thing I love, that most people seem to be overlooking, is that he's more than just a scorer..The proof is in the pudding -- look at the numbers: he also rebounds and racks up many steals & blocks along the way. Plus, he really handles the ball very well...I see a very impactful player. Fast-forward a good 5 years or so from now, it wouldn't surprise me if Brooks went on to become a top-5 player from this draft. Maybe THE best player selected overall. We'll have to see. I know one thing -- he's ready to come in and help out right away next year. Like him or not, Tommy Dee or anyone else can't really argue that aspect..Some of these guys in this draft may not be ready for that...And his self-confidence is through the roof, even at the risk of sounding a bit over-confident, even cold at times...Whatever man -- you get the feeling the big stage, NYC/MSG--the Mecca, wouldn't be something that bothers Brooks and that's what matters most. I feel he'd thrive in this type of pressure-cooker enviornment, yet one more positive..I think he's right up D'Antoni's alley -- Mike likes guys that can score and rookies that don't require a ton of development time...This guy fits the profile.
Alan Hahn via his Twitter and a couple of others are reporting that NY may be engaged in talks with Indiana (among other teams -- who else, I'm not sure) to jump up a few slots in this draft, in this case 17 to 15 (
http://twitter.com/#!/Alanhahn -- scroll down a little past the hockey talk). Tells me the Knicks may be concerned that Philly likes the same player we do at 16 (could it be Vucevic? I doubt it's Brooks or Thompson -- Philly's loaded on the wing with guys like Evan Turner, Iggy, Jodie Meeks..Philly may really like Vucevic as an alternative behind Hawes and Brand. Who knows..). We may not wanna lose out by 1 pick the way we did a couple of years ago with Steph Curry---that might be the thought process here... I'd like to shot for a higher pick myself but if this is all we can do, I'm on board. I wonder what Indy's asking price is for that deal...Here's hoping it's nothing more than #17 and cash. Hard to believe we'd have to surrender anything more than that..