Day: June 25, 2015

With the fourth overall pick, the New York Knicks drafted 19 year old Kristaps Porzingis. The Latvian power forward, by way of Baloncesta Sevilla Spain, is 7 feet and 1/2 inch tall and from my estimation, weighs about 115 lbs. He’s an outside shooter and shot blocker that needs to go on the Eddy Curry/Jerome James diet. A typical high-risk high-reward player, that we’ll have more (lots, lots more!) on in the morning.

The second surprise of the night was the Knicks acquiring the 19th pick from the Atlanta Hawks for Tim Hardaway Jr. The shooting guard wore out his welcome in New York with lots of crappy shooting nights, failing to play defense, and perhaps single handedly costing them the first overall pick in the draft by getting hot at the wrong time.

New York picked up Jerian Grant, a mature (23 years old) and large (6-5) point guard. Grant has an NBA-ready body, and he’s a strong finisher at the hoop. He made 73.1% of his shots at the rim his senior year, and averaged 6.2 fta/40 his senior year. Also careful with the ball, the Notre Damer was 7th in the NCAA in assists per game, and his assist per turnover ratio was a healthy 3.0. His three point shooting did regress his last season, but was healthy the seasons prior. Oh and Grant made one hell of a dunk this year (see #1 in the YouTube Video) where it appears his shoulder gets to the height of the rim.

EDIT: The official press release about Grant/Hardaway

NEW YORK, June 25, 2015 – New York Knickerbockers President Phil Jackson announced today that the draft rights of Jerian Grant, out of Notre Dame, the 19th overall pick in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft, have been acquired from the Atlanta Hawks, via Washington, in exchange for guard Tim Hardaway Jr.

Grant, 6-4, 198, averaged 14.6 points and 5.8 assists over four seasons with Notre Dame. In his senior season, the Silver Spring, MD native was named a First Team All-American and was one of five finalists for the John R. Wooden Award as the National Player of the Year by averaging 16.5 points and 5.8 assists in 38 games.

Hardaway, 6-6, 210-pounds, was originally drafted by New York in the first round, 24th pick overall, in the 2013 NBA Draft. Last season, the Orinda, CA native averaged 11.5 points in 70 games.

EDIT2:

Apparently, the Knicks have made another trade! Statistically Hernangomez appears to be a rebounders & inside scorer. Unfortunately at 6-11, he doesn’t appear to be a shot blocker at all. Apparently he’s not very athletic, but supposedly has a high-IQ.

GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — A New York Knicks official says the team has acquired draft rights to Spanish center Guillermo Hernangomez from the Philadelphia 76ers in a trade.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday night because the trade had not been finalized by the NBA. The official says Philadelphia received two future second round picks.

Hernangomez played with the last two seasons with New York’s fourth overall pick, Kristaps Porzingis, with Sevilla of the Spanish League. He averaged 10.4 points and 6.1 rebounds in 31 games last season. In 74 career games with Sevilla, Hernangomez averaged 7.5 points and 4.3 rebounds.

The official says Hernangomez will play next season in Spain.

We’re less than fifteen minutes away from the start of the 2015 NBA Draft. Things are still so up in the air that I honestly couldn’t tell you who the Knicks will end up with tonight. Whoever it is, I think I can at least guarantee one simple thing – that it will be interesting.

Let’s go Knicks!

The KnickerBlogger staff has decided to spend the 8 days prior to the draft discussing the upcoming event. Each day will feature a different question that we will attempt to answer. Feel free to join us in the comment section!

Who do you want New York to end up with in the draft?

Kurylo: I’ve been all over the place with my answers. However with the decision on the line, I know what direction I would take. I think one of the most underrated attributes in the NBA is defense, which makes it attractive to buy. Additionally Carmelo Anthony is a scorer with average defensive skills, so it makes sense to complement him with defenders. I’d trade down with Denver, and take either WCS or Myles Turner.

Silverman: Towns. (Note: they will not get Towns.)

Gibberman: As I just said one of Okafor, Russell, Mudiay, Winslow, WCS or Hezonja and I leave the draft a happy person. The Knicks have to epically screw this up for me to get pissed off.

Fisher-Cohen: Of the players who are somewhat likely to be available (i.e. not Towns or Okafor), I’ll go with Porzingis as it would indicate a true focus on the future and a willingness to make the sort of a gambles the Knicks will have to make to have at least some chance of becoming more than just a second round playoff team in the best case.

Topaz: With Towns out of reach, I’ll say Russell or Winslow. But I agree with Brian here — the only real mistake the Knicks can make here is dealing this pick for a veteran. Knicks fans were likely disappointed with the 4th pick, but this is a draft loaded with very talented players, and the team will be very fortunate to end up with one of Russell, Winslow, Mudiay, WCS, or even take the opportunity to roll the dice on Porzingis. The key, as ever, is this: does the front office still subscribe to the fallacy that this team is one player, or one offseason, away from building a contender? If yes, we’re in trouble. If not — and they view the Draft and this offseason as the start of a long process that will require patience — the Knicks will have a number of excellent options to choose from to begin it.

Cronin: Towns is just too unrealistic to even hope for him, right? So either Okafor or Russell. At this point, I’d be ecstatic with either one of them. Okafor slightly more so than Russell.

[New York Daily News] Lupica: Time for Phil Jackson to finally put plan in place (Thu, 25 Jun 2015 04:57:10 GMT)

Tonight is finally the night for Phil Jackson to start making the Knicks a better basketball team, which is what he was hired to do.

[New York Daily News] Knicks play NBA draft close to vest, prospects ready to help (Thu, 25 Jun 2015 04:47:44 GMT)

No one has been able to pinpoint what Phil Jackson will do with the fourth selection in the NBA draft.

[New York Times] Sports of The Times: N.B.A. Draft: Rising Above Snubs, Cameron Payne Is Now a Possible Top Pick (Thu, 25 Jun 2015 09:00:15 GMT)

There is a great likelihood that Payne, a spindly point guard from Murray State, will be selected higher in Thursday’s draft than many players once rated far above him.

[New York Times] For Fran Fraschilla, ESPN’s Draft Interpreter, Overseas Talent Must Be Translated (Thu, 25 Jun 2015 09:00:15 GMT)

Fraschilla traveled an unlikely path to become ESPN’s go-to source of information on international basketball prospects during the N.B.A draft.

[New York Times] Sports Briefing | Pro Basketball: Atlanta Hawks Sale Is Approved (Thu, 25 Jun 2015 04:31:22 GMT)

The N.B.A.’s Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale of the Atlanta Hawks to an ownership group led by Tony Ressler.

[New York Times] A Place for Dakari Johnson to Hone His Fine Art, Basketball (Thu, 25 Jun 2015 01:50:11 GMT)

Johnson, one of several players from Kentucky in this year’s draft, has been training for years in an unlikely location: the Pratt Institute, a prestigious art school.

[New York Times] On Pro Basketball: N.B.A. Draft: Kristaps Porzingis and Rabid Fans Will Test Jackson’s Patience (Thu, 25 Jun 2015 01:39:25 GMT)

Does Phil Jackson, one and a half years into his presidency of the Knicks, dare take Porzingis, a 19-year-old who could at best be the next Dirk Nowitzki but at worst the next Nikoloz Tskitishvili?

[New York Times] Sports of The Times: Phil Jackson’s Moment of Truth Has Arrived (Thu, 25 Jun 2015 01:25:56 GMT)

By late August, after the N.B.A. draft and free agency, we will be able to truly draw the measure of Phil Jackson, an entertaining and confounding, intelligent and frustrating character.

[New York Post] Knicks, Phil Jackson could trade down for one of these 2 players (Thu, 25 Jun 2015 04:07:26 -0400)

Wisconsin senior center Frank Kaminsky knew the triangle offense before Phil Jackson showed it to him last week and freshman Trey Lyles performed at a Kentucky practice in March like…

[New York Post] Justise Winslow on meeting Melo and how he could help the Knicks (Thu, 25 Jun 2015 03:51:00 -0400)

With the NBA draft on the horizon, Duke freshman Justise Winslow took a shot at some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby. Q: What drives you? A: The thing that…

[New York Post] The $9,300 suit one top NBA prospect is wearing to the draft (Thu, 25 Jun 2015 01:09:23 -0400)

When Emmanuel Mudiay was 10 years old, he and his two older brothers would pretend they were hosting their very own NBA draft in their Texas home, even videotaping their…