Do i want a Rajon Rondo type player on the Knicks? Absolutely i do. What type of question is that. Do i want a top 5 perimeter defender who is still young and has the ability to get better. Rondo can penetrate and lock down the man he's guarding. A jumpshot can be taught over time. Look at Tony Parker he was a medicore jump shooter at best and now he is a deadly mid range shooter. You guys are blinded because Rondo plays on the Celtics. The point is the Knicks aren't going to be a factor next year no matter who they draft. The idea is to finally start to build a team. And you build a team with young talented players.
You act as if i claim Westbrook is the savior. I obviously would rather have Rose, Beasley, Mayo, and possibly even Alexander (i'd majorly be on the bandwagon if we didn't already have a glut of small forwards). But the fact of the matter is at pick six if things pan out that Mayo is gone i'd rather take a chance on Russell Westbrook then Augustine. I'll even admit that Augustine would make more of an immediate impact his rookie season because he is more polished. But the Knicks aren't close to being a playoff team so do we really need our rookie to make an immediate impact? And now your just becoming bitter old Metro saying you'd rather draft Lee, Chalmers, Rush, and Gordon over Westbrook. Pretty sure Westbrook scored higher then all of those in your personal top ten.
And come on now. Every single person on this site has preached how we need to be a better defensive team over the last two seasons, and now you say defense isn't important and you pick the best player. Defense wins people.
I'll give you some quotes about Westbrook since you seem to respond to that.
Defensively, Westbrook is nothing short of outstanding, as evidenced by the phenomenal work he did locking down the three top scoring guards in the Pac-10 this season, O.J. Mayo, Jerryd Bayless, and James Harden. He is long, strong and very fundamentally sound, getting into a terrific defensive stance on every possession, moving his feet incredibly well, and being absolutely tenacious getting after his matchup. His wingspan, combined with his huge hands and outstanding anticipation skills make him a terror in the passing lanes, and this is a big factor why he spends so much time in transition offensively.
There might not be a more improved player in the country over the last year or two than UCLA sophomore guard Russell Westbrook. Considered a mid-major recruit leading into his senior year of high school, drawing scholarship offers from schools such as San Diego, Wyoming, Creighton and Kent State, Westbrook benefited from a late growth spurt that saw him shoot up from just 5-10 to 6-3 late in his prep career, and is now a key cog on a Final Four contending team and one of the hottest draft prospects in the country as of late. Obviously a late bloomer, Westbrook remains a raw prospect as far as his skill-level is concerned, but has just about as much upside to continue to improve as any guard in the NCAA not named Derrick Rose.
His play on the defensive end of the floor is simply suffocating. Westbrook can shadow just about any wing 6-7 or under and should be a top-three perimeter defender in the entire NBA almost immediately. He is superbly quick with his lateral movement and is intimidating in the air on-ball and off-ball as a shotblocker. His extremely fast hands will create many deflections and takeaways while turning routine passes and shot attempts into ones of high degrees of difficulty.
To sum it up. I'd have no real problems with picking Augustine but in my opinion Westbrook is the better option.