New York Knicks: Ranking the last 10 first-round picks

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The New York Knicks have been active members of the draft lottery for these past few years, making both good and bad choices for the franchise.

Where to begin, right? The New York Knicks have had a mixed bag of results in both the draft lottery and the draft itself for over a decade now.

Excluding RJ Barrett, for whom it is still incredibly early to tell, one could say that the Knicks haven’t made the correct draft choice since David Lee in 2005. I mean, yeah they went ahead to trade him away for basically scraps, but still, GO KNICKS!

Interestingly enough, one would have to go way back to find New York’s last 10 first-round draft selections. 15 years to be exact. Given that each team gets one first-round selection per year, a team that has been trying to find its identity like the Knicks should have definitely been more cautious.

Imagine being an organization so inept, you trade an athletic, pure shooting, 7’3 defensive monster on his rookie deal, in exchange for cap space. Let that one sink in. @nyknicks #Knicks

— Max Kellerman (@maxkellerman) January 31, 2019

Even though the jury is still out regarding some of the more recent selections, we basically know what type of talent each of these players already is. Most of them are still in the league, some are still developing their game.

Fun fact: Out of the ten players mentioned below, only three of those are now playing for the Knicks. The remaining seven were all traded away from the team.


10. Mardy Collins

“Who?”

Most NBA fans are not that familiar with Mardy Collins‘ name. Hell, even being a New York Knicks fan wouldn’t guarantee that. Collins was the tenth-last selection that the Knicks made in the first round of the draft.

Originally drafted using the 29th pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, Collins would spend a total of four seasons in the NBA and averaged 3.7 points per game with the Knicks on some horrific shooting percentages, before getting traded to the LA Clippers in the Zach Randolph trade.

Right after that, Collins would take his talents overseas, where he played for a wide variety of teams and countries. Some of his destinations included Greece, Israel, Venezuela and Poland.


9. Jordan Hill

Moving on to a much more familiar name, Jordan Hill was drafted by the Knicks with the eighth pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. Hill went one spot after Stephen Curry and one spot before DeMar DeRozan. Talk about being lucky!

Unfortunately for the Knicks, Hill was nowhere near as talented as the pair mentioned above, never quite reaching the level of a starting center. That is, of course, if you take the dark Los Angeles Lakers era out of the equation.

For the first time since 2013 the Lakers are making the playoffs. It has been a long 7 years, filled with Wesley Johnson, Jeremy Lin, Nick Young, Kendall Marshall, Roy Hibbert, Xavier Henry, Robert Sacre, Jordan Hill, Ed Davis, Kent Bazemore, Marcelo Huertas, Carlos Boozer

—  Angel (68-14) (@ordunaangell) March 7, 2020

Luckily for the Knicks, Hill was dealt midway through his rookie season, in a deal where the Knicks grabbed themselves a Hall-of-Famer. Reality check: It was Tracy McGrady, on the verge of retiring.


8. Iman Shumpert

Iman Shumpert was once a very promising 3-and-D player for the New York Knicks. Unfortunately enough, the Knicks traded him away while still on his rookie deal, along with J.R. Smith, in a deal that landed them Lance Thomas, Lou Amundson and Alex Kirk.

Shumpert’s move to the Cleveland Cavaliers would ultimately land him an NBA championship in 2016. Even though he never quite took the next step in his career, Shumpert’s energy is truly missed in New York, due to his ability to bring the crowd to its feet.


7. Kevin Knox

Kevin Knox is one of the three players mentioned here that still play for the Knicks. Now in his sophomore season in the league, Knox’s career hasn’t quite gotten off to the best of starts.

On an awful 2018-19 Knicks team, Knox had the ball in his hands a lot, with coach David Fizdale wanting him to take a lot of shots. Knox definitely did not do credit to his former coach with his .370/.343/.717 shooting percentages while being a liability on the defensive end.

Knox still has so many years ahead of him, meaning he can build on whatever weaknesses he expressed last season, despite not looking willing to do so during his second year as a pro.


6. Wilson Chandler

In unbelievable fashion, Wilson Chandler was also traded away from the New York Knicks midway through his rookie contract. In fact, he was included in the deal where the Knicks acquired Carmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets in 2011.

While with the team, Chandler averaged 14 points and 5.2 rebounds on the 233 times he wore a Knicks uniform to work. He even returned to MSG with a bang, in an incident that was a hot topic for a few days in 2017.

Chandler’s career would progress up to a solid starter’s level on a Nuggets team with no playoff hopes. He is now a NY resident, though with the Brooklyn Nets, and will be a free agent in the upcoming summer.


5. Frank Ntilikina

Frank Ntilikina aka The French Prince, was selected with the 8th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, one spot ahead of–current–teammate Dennis Smith Jr., who the Knicks made sure to acquire via trade later on.

Frank’s defensive capabilities have been made clear since his first days in the league. Everything he lacks in the offensive end, he makes up for it by being an elite defender.

#1 in the @NBA at defending the pick-and-roll this season? 👉 @FrankLikina, allowing only .65 points per possession. Jrue Holiday of the Pelicans finished second at .71 PPP. (@SynergySST) pic.twitter.com/f6JPUwbb32

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) April 24, 2018

The front office has a rich tradition of being extremely impatient with player growth. The way the organization handled some of the players mentioned in this article might be enough to convince you.

Not a single soul knows if the Knicks are going to patiently wait for Frank to develop even more. What we know is that it would be a huge waste to abandon a player that spends the entirety of his energy stock to guard the toughest guards in the league with success.


4. Tim Hardaway Jr.

On the topic of fixing old mistakes, the Knicks selected Tim Hardaway Jr. with the 24th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, then proceeded to deal him to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Jerian Grant, only to hilariously overpay him during the 2017 offseason.

Over the years, Hardaway earned a reputation for being one of those “High-Volume/Low-Efficiency” types of shooters. The fact that he was playing on bad teams with no scoring options only made it easier for him to chuck up more shots.

Nevertheless, give credit where credit is due. Since getting traded to the Dallas Mavericks, along with Kristaps Porzingis, Hardaway has blossomed into a very reliable scoring option and has tremendously boosted up those shooting percentages that made him so unappealing.


3. RJ Barrett

RJ Barrett is the current wonder boy in the city of New York. Barrett was the third overall pick in last year’s draft and has had a very promising rookie season so far. His shooting percentages were not great, but not bad at all for a rookie.

What’s perhaps most pleasant to those Knicks fans, is that for the first time in ages, a player is actually enjoying playing for the team. The Canadian has lived in a lot of places, with New York being one of them, and has confessed to being a die-hard Knicks fan since he was young.

Barrett has tons of upside and it will be very exciting seeing what he’s truly capable of during his sophomore season, which is where stars tend to take their leap towards superstardom.


2. Danilo Gallinari

Danilo Gallinari was the main piece that the Nuggets received in the Carmelo Anthony trade. Gallo is a former 6th pick and arrived in Denver as a 22-year old after spending a solid 2-and-a-half season span in New York.

Since then, Danilo has flourished into a very charismatic scorer and one of the best 3-point shooters in the league, though his defense needs much to be desired. Would the Knicks still have the same 3-point struggles with him on the roster? Perhaps not.

Gallinari is currently playing on his contract year and will enter free agency once the season is over. A return to The Big Apple would surely be a treat to the fans, given the level that he has reached since his trade.


1. Kristaps Porzingis

One could really go on and on talking about the relationship between the New York Knicks and Kristaps Porzingis, which escalated, only to result in a pretty lopsided trade.

The Unicorn is without a doubt the best player that the Knicks selected in the NBA Draft since Patrick Ewing in 1985. Now away from the team, Kristaps is already a star in a very young and exciting Mavericks team.

Arguably a sad initial selection with the fourth pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, Knicks fans were even sadder to see him go via trade in January 2019. Talk about a rollercoaster of a ride.
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翻译作品链接: (翻译完了记得填!!!) 招工链接: https://bbs.hupu.com/35225355.html原文标题: New York Knicks: Ranking the last 10 first-round picks原文作者: Orestis Rantis发表时间: 5.1原文链接: https://hoopshabit.com/2020/05/01/new-york-knicks-last-10-picks/译者: 备注: 新手接工前请仔细阅读以下主题贴与完工期限: 一级文完工期限7天,二级文完工期限10天,有特殊时效要求的注意标题时效。NBA术语翻译对照>> 俚语及生僻词汇可查询>> 球员人名翻译及格式请参照虎扑的译名>>翻译团新人须知>> 文章完工后请不要直接发到篮球场及球队分区等板块,发至翻译团Lounge>>并标注完工 !

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