New York Knicks should trade the third overall pick
By Mike Marrano
No Zion? No problem. There are ways the New York Knicks can still be successful next season, and that starts with trading the third overall pick.
The New York Knicks finished with an NBA worst 17-65 record to end the 2018-2019 season. Fans believed it was going to be enough to clinch the coveted number one overall pick in this year’s draft, Zion Williamson. After months of anticipation, the Knicks once again never caught the break they needed.
New Orleans won the draft lottery while NYK was awarded the number three overall pick. There are reports of the Knicks organization exploring the idea of trading their first round pick. Its time to take a step back and realize that might be a good idea.
On one hand, if the Knicks do trade the third overall pick, they are missing out on potentially drafting RJ Barrett, one of Duke’s top players this past season who averaged 22.6 points and 7.6 rebounds. Barrett is very good in transition and uses his speed to burn opponents in the open court. That makes him a difficult player to defend against. He has the capability of being a very good shooter with the proper time and space. In 2018-19, he shot 30.8% from behind the arc.
Barrett is worthy of the third overall pick, but there are a lot of question marks that come with him and his development at the next level. In a draft that was essentially a Zion or bust, the New York Knicks do not seem interested in using Barrett in their future plans as they did with Zion. Why not explore other options to improve the roster?