That’s totally fair, but doesn’t that apply to OKC as well? Or Philly? Or Cleveland? Or Minnesota? Lots of teams are in similar predicaments, or just were, or soon will be.

I agree but it’s mainly I don’t fully have faith in Leon yet. I need a good summer, or at least not an actively bad one to believe he has truly turned a corner. The trade deadline was so bad it shook my confidence a bit but it’s hard to argue with Brunson, IHart, DDV, and OG all in a year and a half and I can look past one bad trade deadline if he follows it up with a solid summer. If he turns around and fumbles this summer as well, especially by repeating past mistakes like ignoring the draft or failing to bolster our bench then I will go back to being worried that maybe he hasn’t learned and the good moves were simply outliers and not evidence of actual improvement.

But I like where we are and I like our team. Even if he hasn’t learned and I end up wanting him gone I still give him credit for our turnaround and I am grateful.

The idea that wanting to win now somehow makes the draft less important is stupid and shortsighted. Dallas, Miami, OKC, and Indiana all had rookies playing meaningful minutes in the playoffs. Almost every good team has 2nd and 3rd year players in their rotation and it’s often the best place to find depth once you are over the cap. It might take a year or two for players to be ready but good teams stay good by constantly using the draft to bolster their rotation. If we want this team to be sustainable we need to think more than 1 season ahead.

@donnie walsh…so…are you going to tedeschi trucks?

I’m not sure yet. Admittedly, like JK, I’m not all that familiar with Tedeschi Trucks per se. I’ve seen Derek play with the Allmans and he was amazing, and I’ve liked (even loved) some of the songs of the Derek Trucks Band. But, yeah, if it’s all blues, which it may be, then I don’t know. A whole evening of I IV V may turn stale a bit too early, despite the weather.

https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=Tedeschi%20Trucks&mid=A90842CBB8FA0BD3355EA90842CBB8FA0BD3355E&ajaxhist=0

Or this, the second half which has some nice guitar work (to me, who’s an ignoramus on the topic):

https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=Tedeschi%20Trucks&mid=A7364C5327636B99B2F8A7364C5327636B99B2F8&ajaxhist=0

Agreed, again with the caveat that it likely won’t make all that much difference. But what I’m anticipating is a trade-up. Maybe they package two or even all three picks to move into the teens and snag a player with at least some upside. There seems to be a significant drop-off after pick #18.

I am just not all that invested in this draft, especially because I think that due to lack of expansion, the league is saturated with talent and some players better than anyone in the latter part of the first round might shake loose for minimum make-good deals. If iHart and OG extend, and Mitch and Julius come back healthy, I’m less concerned about how to fill out the non-rotation spots.

I disagree with this. I think you are vastly underestimating how different the team would be without SGA in the fold. The most important reason why OKC is even relevant right now is SGA. Without him, they are a play-in team, maybe with promise, but not nearly as much. They would definitely be worse than we are right now.

Now I agree that Brunson is even more important to us than SGA is to OKC on paper. But one of the things that Leon has accomplished is removing the stigma that the Knicks are a dysfunctional clown show laughingstock. He did that even before acquiring Brunson.

“If he keeps up these smart moves I will fully become a believer. I think this offseason will be the moment. If he nails this summer I will be fully there with him. Even if he simply manages to weather this summer I will be happy. If he punts our picks or makes a bad trade for a aging star or does anything to shorten our window in pursuit of his white whale I will be very disappointed.”

That’s totally fair, but doesn’t that apply to OKC as well? Or Philly? Or Cleveland? Or Minnesota? Lots of teams are in similar predicaments, or just were, or soon will be.

Which is to say, no one (certainly not me) is suggesting that the job is done. There are still moves to make, but for a change, we actually have the assets to make them.

A few years ago, it wasn’t a question of whether the Nets would win a championship, it was how many. They were arguably the best team in the NBA, and we were arguably the worst. Now we are considerably better positioned than they are. And it happened in a flash.

We are in a great position right now, undoubtably the best position since the Ewing days. Seems like even Leon’s most ardent detractors are coming around. Hopefully the best is yet to come, and there’s ample reason to believe that it is.

I agree with much, but not all of what you are saying. In my opinion, you are significantly underrating how difficult Leon’s task was right from the start. Whether you like Thibs or not, not only making the playoffs, but getting home court advantage in a year where the team was expected to finish with the absolute lowest win total is a massive accomplishment.

There were egregious errors, and you pointed them out. Can they be chalked up to inexperience? yes, but even experienced GMs make similarly egregious errors.

For centers that could slide to us, I like Ware best but also like Holmes II and Filipowski. I like both Tyler Smith and Bobi Klintman as young tall forwards that while both raw could develop into good 3andD players in a couple years.

I think Dunn is the player I want the most of the people mocked to us, he has absolutely elite defensive upside and while it’s possible he could never develop offensively his upside potential if he ever does is through the roof.

If I’m doing the draft I am looking for a large wing and a center.

Larger wings:
Dunn
Smith
Da Silva
Klintman

Centers:
Ware
Holmes II
Filipowski
Missi

Then possible 2nd round picks:
Scheierman
Djurisic
Edwards
Tyson

I don’t really want Eddy, George, Shannon Jr., Carrington, Furphy, or really any smaller guard unless they are a home run prospect that slips. We have enough players under 6’5″ and we don’t need to add more.

More than anything I want to walk away from this draft with at least two promising players and anything less would be a disappointment.

with the caveat that if they decide that no one is worth drafting and want to kick the can down the road, I am okay with it. I can understand others not being okay with it, but this is a really murky draft.

I would be ok with it this year. It’s highly unlikely a talent like Jalen Johnson is going to fall to 25. Hell it seems like even Keon Johnson would be a lottery pick in this draft.

But he’s got to turn it into a legitimate future first. Indiana got a top-5 protected pick from Denver last year, so none of this top-18 protected BS.