2018 NBA Draft Night Thread - ESPN 7PM Thursday June 21

Saw the kid on Youtube for the first time. Very tall at 7'1" but mobile with a good handle for a big guy, ability to finish at the rim and rim protection is a given for a 7 footer and he's got range out to the 3 or line. Like Mafra said a projected first rounder that drops to the second because he opted not to play in college so he may be the optimal value pick. Have to wonder about how he handled not going to college or to a pro league to make some money and keep his game tuned up. Not sure if he bulked up in supposedly training for this draft but he needed it.

Well he got hurt during the draft workout process so not sure how fine tuned he is....if he can't clearly beat out someone like Kornet or make us feel less reliant on Kanter as a long term solution well we goofed here considering who was still on the board and a the trades for 2nd rd picks made after our selection
 
Well he got hurt during the draft workout process so not sure how fine tuned he is....if he can't clearly !beat out someone like Kornet or make us feel less reliant on Kanter as a long term solution well we goofed here considering who was still on the board and a the trades for 2nd rd picks made after our selection
More worrisome to me is he may have attitude problems taking this unconventional route to the NBA. I guess we'll see more of him in the coming weeks both his personality and how he plays in summer league.
 
Amen.

Mitchell far superior to WHG, as a prospect.



Kid has a lot to prove (overcome) before we even consider him a rotation piece, or get excited over him being on our roster.

Odds are stacked against him.

It won?t matter if he is the best athlete his age if he doesn?t have the will/want, discipline/dedication, focus/commitment or intelligence.

Since we opted to go for the double and not HR with Knox over Porter, I agree with Broadway that there were safer guys left (and maybe another solid double made more sense).

All things considered, given we stayed st 9 & 36, I think we did well and grabbed both upside and potential with 2 picks who possessed NBA bodies with NBA skills.

Knox can be one of those SGs that run all over the place, through pick after pick, ala Allen and Hamilton. He can be a solid, starting SF/PF wing.

Mitchell might be Thabeet but he might even be better than Ayton.

I?m disappointed we didn?t snag future picks, extra assets, or another player in this draft...

However, with that said, if you wouldve told me last Aug that we would draft 2 of the top 15 incoming college freshman but... I couldn?t select the guys... and you asked if I would sign up for that...would I trade my 2 picks for that option... I wouldn't even hesitate, despite not knowing draft position. Sign me up... take the top 15 1-&-done incoming freshman, with surefire first round NBA talent, and put their names in a hat... even if Dale Davis had to pick the names... go for it!

In summary, we arguably walked away with 2 of the top 10 1-&-done talents in this draft class.

This is not simply a crapshoot... but, we all know by now about drafts. Who knows? Both could miss... or... just as in any other draft... maybe 1 or 2 hit...
 
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Perry didn't do anything special this draft, didn't trade up or down, didn't reach for Porter, didn't trade any assets for future picks. I'm going to give him a C for his first draft, Knox may not be a star but I think he'll be a rotation player splitting time between the 3 and 4 and should get plenty of playing time with Porzingis out and Quinn perhaps on another team. Robinson a question mark to me.
 
Allonzo Trier signed a two-way contract with the Knicks

A talented scoring shooting guard with decent size

That was quick!

Just minutes after the draft ended, we have a Shams-wow:


So, who is this Allonzo Trier cat? (Wildcat, to be exact.)

Trier played three seasons at Arizona, culminating in this past season, where he averaged 18.1 points on 50 percent shooting from the floor.

Trier showed improvement every season, increasing almost all of his percentages and traditional per-game numbers. He measured 6-foot-5 with a 6-foot-7 wingspan at the combine, good measurements for someone who figures to float between the shooting guard and small forward spots in the NBA.

I?ll admit to not being too versed in Trier?s game other than some passing viewings of Arizona this past season, but based off his highlights, he seems to have more than a few moves ready to bring out at any moment on offense:

He doesn?t have the fastest first step, but uses fakes well. And while his jumper looks like it could maybe be tightened up a little, Trier looks to have NBA range right away.

Definitely an interesting prospect, and likely one of the better players available as undrafted free agents. Good on the Knicks for acting quickly!

What do you think of our third new Knick of the night? Chat it up in the comments.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.postingandtoasting.com/platform/amp/2018/6/22/17491850/allonzo-trier-signed-a-two-way-contract-with-the-knicks
 
Winners

New York Knicks

The Knicks resisted the temptation to snag Porter Jr. at No. 9 and took Kevin Knox ? a versatile wing out of Kentucky who?s still developing. Initially seen as a late-lottery talent, the Knicks stuck to their guns with Knox rather than take someone like Mikal Bridges, a system player without as much upside. Knox can run the floor, lead transition breaks, take the ball off the bounce and hit from outside. There?s always pressure to find an immediate contributor, but Knox?s trajectory fits with the Knicks? timeline. He should also complement Kristaps Porzingis well as the two can both draw defenders out to the perimeter.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/724476002
 
Trier is an enigma no one could figure out since his first yr at Arizona. Maybe he'll find his way at the next level...
 
New GM making his presence felt

Crazy thing is Smith was rumored as a Sixers target so why didn’t they just flat out draft him at 10?

What was the trade again?

Pretty sure we find out what happened because Mikal would have been a highly popular choice but my guess is the Sixers got a call from the Suns after they selected him and they made an offer the Sixers couldn't refuse. Sixers got another first out of it next year.
Brown who is the acting GM said the Sixers had Mikal/Smith rated 1A/1B respectively and when the offer came in it was too good to pass up, the pick the Sixers got was Miami"s unprotected 2021 1st, they couldn't have been crazy about it being 3 yrs into the future but it being unprotected is very valuable. Plus they open up a little more cap space ~800K paying Smith at 16 in a chase for Lebron or Kawhi

They told Mikal about the trade while he was doing a presser wearing a Sixers cap so I doubt it was a pre-arranged deal. He took it well, said he knew it was a business and Donavan Mitchell who was traded last year just said be prepared but he was happy just to be in the NBA and going to PHO.

Sixers fan base is pissed even if Bridges is taking it well saying Zaire can't shoot and Bridges could along with being as good or better defender. Maybe Bridges turns into the Donovan Mitchell story for the Suns this season.
 
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Perry didn't do anything special this draft, didn't trade up or down, didn't reach for Porter, didn't trade any assets for future picks. I'm going to give him a C for his first draft, Knox may not be a star but I think he'll be a rotation player splitting time between the 3 and 4 and should get plenty of playing time with Porzingis out and Quinn perhaps on another team. Robinson a question mark to me.

I think a C grade is fair. Perry and Mills bring essentially no finesse to the front office. They are never going to do anything ?clever?. The best we can hope for as time goes on is that they make moves with some logic behind them. Hopefully a couple years from now this franchise will have the option to recruit a better front office, but for the meantime, we?ll just have to keep hoping for the best.

I think we did okay last night. This team is being built for the lottery again next year and then hopefully to try to turn things around in the 2019-20 season.
 
Next year is loaded with SG/SF talent at top of draft.

Knits
RJ Barrett/lottery pick 2019
Knox
Porzingis
Robinson


This could be our homegrown, lottery lineup come 2019-2020
 
I think a C grade is fair. Perry and Mills bring essentially no finesse to the front office. They are never going to do anything “clever”. The best we can hope for as time goes on is that they make moves with some logic behind them. Hopefully a couple years from now this franchise will have the option to recruit a better front office, but for the meantime, we’ll just have to keep hoping for the best.

I think we did okay last night. This team is being built for the lottery again next year and then hopefully to try to turn things around in the 2019-20 season.

Yep fair grade I echo the same sentiments on one hand you can't praise the Knicks for avoiding MPJr and then praise the Nuggets for taking him. I mean I understand how analysts are trying to maneuver their way through their thinking but it's still a contradiction because 14 isn't that far away from 9. If Denver picked him up at say somewhere in the 20s fine good argument otherwise I call BullSpit here.

I don't dislike it extremely for the Nuggets but IMO their grade should be an INCOMPLETE.

Meanwhile with the Knicks just think we could have picked Mikal and then traded him and scooped up a very valuable asset in the future. Then the Alexander gaff by us where the Clippers who were known to want to move up weeks in advance getting their target. We had two players we could've drafted and got assets for while staying IN THE LOTTERY. Not to mention everyone knew the Bulls promised Chandler Hutchison at 22 and lo and behold they got him without anyone forcing their hand(we could've).

I didn't like this draft at all. C is fair but IMO it's closer to a D
 
For the record I'm hearing the main two reasons we drafted Knox was because

He was willing to do a group workout and compete against guys while doing well and Fitz sees him as in ideal fit.

Okay once again I understand this but sounds to me Knox wasn't really a target but more so someone who showed a "willingness" about himself that endeared us to him. In the end he won us over slightly more than 1 week before the draft. Seems kind of hokey to me but we'll see soon enough. If Knox is as competitive as he seems to be now, he better play in the Summer League and ball out like Kuzma did last yr

The same CBS Sports that locked in on us a week ago says we didn't do well in the draft! Oh and none of Perry's picks(what he's had his hands involved in) the last few yrs have blown anyone over in this league
 
You can?t have much faith in Perry?s drafting bc his past leaves a lot to be desired.

I do agree that getting swayed at the eleventh hour is usually a recipe for disaster... but, we are all human... and, being in the projection business is difficult and based on unscientific methods.

So, if a player truly shows a willingness to be coached and you feel the player has grown leaps and bounds in 12 months and even again in the last 3 months... then you extrapolate that out and feel he can continue to improve...

The kid is 18 and has a lot more room to grow than Mykhal, who is a lot closer to the player he?ll be in the NBA.

Knox is still growing and they like his size. 6?9? shooter... what?s not to be hopeful about? He?s also thrives in a pressure cauldron of KU hoops....

Basically, Perry and Mills said if Knox was 22 like Mykhal, and played 2 more seasons at KU... he would be A top 3 pick.

They probably also liked him enough that they felt he was a much better prospect than what was available in the teens.

Would I prefer Zaire Smith and a first in 2021 over Knox? Possibly...

But this is a copycat league and they see Knox as their Tatum.

Perry and Mills stakes their jobs on this pick... if they?re right... they pulled it off. We shall see.

Personally, I prefer Knox over Bridges. I do think Porter was the smarter bet (if we were rolling the dice on upside).

I?m glad we did roll the dice on Robinson. You?re probably missing anyway in round 2... so go big.

But, we failed to call a bluff and draft Bridges (for trade purposes) and failed to take Porter... We also seemed to zero in on 1 guy, and not be flexible...

However, say we pass on Knox and Philly
Scoops him up the next pick... and he looks like Tatum for them... we would be pissed.

Like I said earlier, we walked away from this draft with 2 of the top 10 or 15 one-and-done types. We will find out soon enough if we were right.

To me, the gamble was passing on Michael Porter jr.
 
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You can’t have much faith in Perry’s drafting bc his past leaves a lot to be desired.

To me, the gamble was passing on Michael Porter jr.

I get it but we passed on too many ASSETS in this draft Maf, we still need those more than ever. If we believe in this developmental pipe then we should've been willing to take more of them on. I think our front office got schooled, this is CHESS not checkers. We could have as many as 3-4 additional picks in the cupboards, you know that could potentially facilitate trades for the bigger targets. If we believed in those future bigger aspirations we would function as so. Can't operate by staying in a box, which is what we do far too often

So really IMO this is more so the front office believing in Fizdale more than anything else. Have mercy on his soul

Perry's quote in that POST article prior to draft were the suspicious of suspicion as I thought they were
 
We actually should see this lineup at some point this yr if all these guys are as advertised


Hard to tell exactly because he's in a suit but I mentioned Robinson needed to put on weight, in this picture it looks like he may have done that. Frank also looks way taller than Mudiay. I think all these guys will be working out daily in Westchester with Mudiay, Nits and DD already doing so, that summer league team should be ready to go.
 
You can’t have much faith in Perry’s drafting bc his past leaves a lot to be desired.

I do agree that getting swayed at the eleventh hour is usually a recipe for disaster... but, we are all human... and, being in the projection business is difficult and based on unscientific methods.

So, if a player truly shows a willingness to be coached and you feel the player has grown leaps and bounds in 12 months and even again in the last 3 months... then you extrapolate that out and feel he can continue to improve...

The kid is 18 and has a lot more room to grow than Mykhal, who is a lot closer to the player he’ll be in the NBA.

Knox is still growing and they like his size. 6”9’ shooter... what’s not to be hopeful about? He’s also thrives in a pressure cauldron of KU hoops....

Basically, Perry and Mills said if Knox was 22 like Mykhal, and played 2 more seasons at KU... he would be A top 3 pick.

They probably also liked him enough that they felt he was a much better prospect than what was available in the teens.

Would I prefer Zaire Smith and a first in 2021 over Knox? Possibly...

But this is a copycat league and they see Knox as their Tatum.

Perry and Mills stakes their jobs on this pick... if they’re right... they pulled it off. We shall see.

Personally, I prefer Knox over Bridges. I do think Porter was the smarter bet (if we were rolling the dice on upside).

I’m glad we did roll the dice on Robinson. You’re probably missing anyway in round 2... so go big.

But, we failed to call a bluff and draft Bridges (for trade purposes) and failed to take Porter... We also seemed to zero in on 1 guy, and not be flexible...

However, say we pass on Knox and Philly
Scoops him up the next pick... and he looks like Tatum for them... we would be pissed.

Like I said earlier, we walked away from this draft with 2 of the top 10 or 15 one-and-done types. We will find out soon enough if we were right.

To me, the gamble was passing on Michael Porter jr.
It would have been a gamble for the Knicks to take him when they aren't in a position to gamble. 13 teams passed on his medical report, the kid is also full of himself and had questions about getting along with teammates, the Knicks made the right decision. Reminds me of that 2015 draft if we were in the position to pick Okafor or KP, it would have been the right decision to pick Okafor then.
 
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