The NBA Draft lottery is a week away, so it’s not yet known where the Knicks will pick in the upcoming draft. It would be an upset if New York or any team pass on Zion Williamson if given the opportunity to select No. 1 overall. However, the Knicks have just a 14% chance of landing the top overall selection.
What will New York do if they don’t land the top pick? Ian Begley of SNY.tv hears that team evaluators like Cam Reddish‘s game. Begley cautions that this piece of information doesn’t mean the Knicks will select Reddish but the organization does believe Reddish’s game will translate well to the NBA.
The Knicks can pick no lower than No. 5 overall, as our NBA Draft Lottery Odds page indicates. The team has a 40.1% chance at picking in the top three, where Williamson, Ja Morant, and R.J. Barrett are expected to go.
No matter who is selected with New York’s pick, he’ll likely be a subject of trade rumors, especially if the team expects to land a superstar like Kevin Durant. We could see a situation similar to the Cavaliers after they signed LeBron James as a free agent in 2014 and traded No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love, or the Celtics when they traded 2007 No. 5 overall pick Jeff Green for Ray Allen with an eye toward adding Kevin Garnett later that summer.
The Knicks could trade their pick for a star or a more established player, though Begley notes that there is no firm consensus in the front office about whether the team should trade this year’s first-round pick for any player, including Anthony Davis.
Can anybody give me an example of a single instance – in the entire history of basketball – where the fourth best player on a college team was worthy of the fifth pick in the draft?
Third best * and no, probably not.
The problem with trying to share the court with two other top 5 ranked players before college.
Someone is going to be hurt by it, but it doesn’t diminish his game or potential.
Interesting question, though Reddish was #3 on Duke, and is probably not the #5 prospect.
Jaren Jackson 2018#4 (Miles Bridges, Cassious Winston, Nick Ward… JJJ did not have a big role in their offense. #4
Willie CauleyStein 2015#6 probably did not start for UK (Towns, Booker, Lyles, Harrison boys) #5
Dion Waiters 2012#4 did not start but was 2nd in scoring for Syracuse. #?
Russell Westbrook? 2008#4 (Love, Collison, Moute, & Josh Shipp was a big deal at the time) #4
Ray Felton unc 2005#5 very balanced natnl.champs, & I don’t recall him being most crucial to them. (McCants, Sean May, Jawad & Marvin Wlms.) #4
I went to the 90s but at some point, freshmen did not count as much as now. For instance, if MJ left after his freshman yr, he would have ranked lower than Worthy, Perkins & Jimmy Black at UNC.
It happens when the #1 overall (RJ), #3 overall (Reddish), and #5 overall (Zion) HS prospects link up in the same draft class and they all ball out.
Not worried that he was the third best player on his team, as Z-A alluded to, the three were all top 5 HS prospects.
I would be more than happy with Reddish at 4 or 5, but if the Knicks take him in the top 3, then we have a problem. Pick drops to 4 or 5 though, would not be surprised if it was dealt.
I agree. He’d be a nice addition at the 2 or 3. I think his case with Duke is that he is young, played with two others for competing interests, and he’s probably not the alpha male the other two are. I’d take him at 5. I think the obvious three plus Hunter go before him.
It was more like Bron-Wade-Bosh. When either Bron or Wade were out for a game, Bosh would take over and show why he was a future HoFer.
Similar situation with Duke. Reddish balled out most games sans Zion. And fit in when it was all 3. He is a streaky shooter though from game to game. He needs to improve his consistency in the NBA, that’s why he is 4th or 5th in this draft. If he was more consistent and his FG% were 45% vs 35% and 3P% closer to 40% hed probably go ahead of RJ and Ja, still behind Zion tho.
The Knicks shouldn’t let DSJ prevent them from drafting Ja Morant tho. You can deal DSJ and Ntilikina on draft night. Suns, Magic, Bulls, Sixers, Jazz to name a few.
Hell if the Knicks took the 24th pick for DSJ to the Sixers, do that in a heartbeat. White and Garland are going to go in the lottery, but really arent lottery talents imo. They should go in the teens/low 20s. But I digress.
Reminds me of Devin Booker’s career path
This is a very weak draft. After the top 3, there aren’t any real top 5 picks. So, teams picking 4-7 are going to have to choose among guys that are more back half of the lottery types. Teams picking in that area often choose between a guy with a top 5 type skill set or top 5 type physical attributes. I can definitely see teams in that range looking to trade back in (or even out of) this draft for future picks. I wouldn’t be surprised if #3 got dealt either.