The Knicks face a consequential summer beginning with the NBA Draft

The Knicks’ primary decision makers and fans must assume an unemotional and pragmatic view when assessing the team’s current roster as the 2022 NBA Draft will take place tonight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Personal and visceral attachments have to be disregarded when doing what’s in the best interest of constructing a sustainable winner. Team president Leon Rose and the Knicks front office have an onerous challenge of acquiring the requisite pieces to elevate the franchise to championship contending status.

The Knicks currently do not have one perennial All-Star or player that can dramatically alter their trajectory in an upward direction. The odds of such a player being available with the No. 11 pick the Knicks hold as of the writing of this article are moderate. But if they stay at No. 11 the Knicks may beat the odds and land a player who could become a Reggie Miller (1987) or Klay Thompson (2011). If not a caliber player of the aforementioned two, then perhaps a Domantas Sabonis (2016) or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2018), a pair of excellent young ballers.

Some of the Knicks’ potential choices who may still be available when it’s their turn to select are 6-foot-7 Arizona wing Bennedict Mathurin, 6-foot-5 Wisconsin shooting guard Johnny Davis, 6-foot-7 Baylor 3 and D prospect Jeremy Sochan, and 6-foot-8 G-League combo guard standout Dyson Daniels.

The Knicks, who finished 37-45, 11th overall in the East this past season, are replete with utilitarian veterans and growing secondary players that could be consistently productive in defined roles on a squad anchored by two core difference making talents. Their two best players, Julius Randle and R.J. Barrett, haven’t proved to be in the latter category.

Randle regressed last season after having a career-best 2020-2021 campaign, being named All NBA Second Team. While Barrett, who turned 22 on June 14, has shown improvement over his three seasons in the NBA, he has not distinguished himself as a budding star. A comparison of the Knicks roster to other building teams in the Eastern Conference, notably the Cleveland Cavaliers (Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen), Atlanta Hawks (Trae Young, John Collins and De’Andre Hunter) and Charlotte Hornets (LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges), reveals there is a conclusive gap as the other three possess franchise cornerstones.

Now the Knicks must be creative and maybe lucky to secure some of their own.

The post The Knicks face a consequential summer beginning with the NBA Draft appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.