New York Knicks: Draft Picks – #19, #21, #32, #58
The Brooklyn Nets have been the “talk of the town” in New York with their “Big 3,” but the New York Knicks are a legit threat once again and are not going anywhere anytime soon! Tom Thibodeau was named Coach of the Year in his first season with the team, Julius Randle was named Most Improved Player and R.J. Barrett continues to evolve into a potential All-Star talent, so where do the Knicks go from here?
Well, they own the 19th and 21st picks in the first-round of the 2021 NBA Draft this year and with close to $60M in cap space, this is a franchise that will absolutely be looking to make “win-now” moves in the offseason.
As a result, both of these first-round picks are definitely involved in trade talks right now and the Knicks will continue to hear out offers leading up to the draft as they look to add more high-level talents to their roster to contend in the Eastern Conference. This does not mean that the Knicks are not going to be taking a long look at the pre-draft process though.
Last year, New York drafted Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley in the first-round, two young talents they are going to continue to build with, so having the chance to add two more young, versatile talents to their roster is definitely a positive thing for the Knicks.
Guys like James Bouknight (UCONN), Jalen Johnson (Duke), Scottie Barnes (Florida State) and Jaden Springer (Tennessee), among others, are all guys on the Knicks’ radar in the draft, but all of these guys are expected to be taken in the lottery. This could mean that New York is looking to move up into the lottery in order to take one of these guys.
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There are plenty of teams that will entertain the idea of trading down from their lottery pick this year and with the Knicks having close to back-to-back picks at No. 19 and No. 21 in the first-round, this could definitely be an intriguing situation for other teams to consider.
On a side note, the Knicks are also mentioned in NBA rumors as being interested in guys like Lonzo Ball, Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and Norman Powell in NBA free agency this offseason, so what they decide to do with their draft picks could give a ton of insight into what they will be looking to do when free agency rolls around.
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There is a ton of talk around the league right now that New York is “open for business” in regards to their draft picks and they are “very open” to discussing trade scenarios, a source tells NBA Analysis Network.
“New York is in an intriguing position because they really are not far from being a true contender. Drafting two more young talents could definitely help, as could packaging their two first-round picks together to chase an established talent. The Knicks are in a win-win situation heading into the draft in terms of moves they could and will make.”
Between the draft and free agency, we are going to see a new and improved Knicks team heading into the 2021-22 season. Draft-wise though, it is safe to say right now that New York will be looking to trade most of their picks. With two second-round picks as well, the Knicks still have the ability to chase some talents in the draft, but keeping both the 19th and 21st overall selections seems out of question right now.
