New York Knicks: Grading their 2019 NBA Draft
Overall Grade: A-
It’s clear to me that the Knicks wanted to bolster their shooting and offensive playmaking which is something that they certainly did in this draft. Scoring only 104.6 Points Per Game as a team and ranking 28th in the league for that category, the Knicks needed to find offensive pieces.
Assuming the team stays the way it is, Mitchell Robinson, Frank Ntilikina, and DeAndre Jordan could do well enough to let the team get by on the defensive end. Adding RJ Barrett to the equation is also incredibly helpful as he can guard every position on the floor very well, outside of center.
New York Knicks fans are impatient and want to bring another title to the Mecca of basketball, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. Even with a big name, box office talent such as Durant, there’s no guarantee that the Knicks will end up looking better when he returns due to the fact that his injury looms a huge question mark over the whole rest of his career.
At the end of the day, this team is going to take a few more years before they’re serious playoff contenders, but this draft is a great step in the right direction.
They finally found their guy in Barrett, somebody that is ready for the bright lights of New York and will run with the first opportunity he gets to shine. Dennis Smith Jr., Allonzo Trier, Kevin Knox, and Robinson all bring a young and talented promise to this team that New York fans haven’t seen in a long time.
I’m normally one to pounce on the Knicks for the majority of the moves they make good or bad but I gotta give credit where credit is due here. The Knicks had one heck of a draft and this is more than likely the beginning to the actual rebuild of New York Knicks basketball. Not the crap rebuilds that Phil Jackson promised hopeful fans but an actual rebuild that could see the dominant New York basketball reside in Manhattan once again.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.