Knicks 8th in Draft Lottery

[greatgates]

NBA officials rate their top draft prospects
Posted by: gwoelfel on April 14, 2009 at 1:15PM EST
BY GERY WOELFEL



PORTSMOUTH, Va. -- The Milwaukee Bucks won't be in the NBA playoffs, but they will be in the Draft Lottery -- for the third straight year.



The Bucks, who wrap up their season Wednesday night on the road against the Indiana Pacers, would have 10th overall pick if the draft was held today.



With that in mind, nine NBA general managers and player personnel officials attending the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament last week were asked to select their top 10 draft prospects.



A total of 18 players received votes, although only five of them were unanimous selections.



They were power forward Blake Griffin of Oklahoma, center Hasheem Thabeet of Connecticut, point guard Ricky Rubio of DKV Joventut, shooting guard James Harden of Arizona State and power forward Jordan Hill of Arizona.



Guard Tyreke Evans of Memphis also came close to being a unanimous choice. While a Western Conference scout felt Evans was a top 10 talent, he left him off his ballot because he felt Evans wouldn't fit in well with his team's style of play and couldn't make a perimeter shot on a consistent basis.



Of those aforementioned six players, Griffin was a unanimous choice as the best player. Rubio and Thabeet were regarded as the second- and third-best draft prospects.



Rounding out the top 10 best players were forward Al-Farouq Aminu of Wake Forest and guards Stephen Curry of Davidson, Jeff Teague of Wake Forest and Ty Lawson of North Carolina.



Each received five votes. Just missing being a top 10 selection was forward Earl Clark of Louisville, who had four votes..



Seven other players drew top 10 votes, led by point guard Jonny Flynn of Syracuse, who has yet to declare for the draft, with three votes.



The other players were power forward DeJuan Blair of Pittsburgh, combo forward James Johnson of Wake Forest, center B.J Mullens of Ohio State and point guard Brandon Jennings, who is playing for Virtus Roma in Italy – all with two votes – along with shooting guard Gerald Henderson of Duke and shooting guard DeMar DeRozan of Southern California – with one vote each.



* Guard Wesley Matthews of Marquette University seemingly solidified his chances of being drafted in the second round with a quality showing at the PIT.



Matthews was one of 12 players chosen to the All-PIT team.



* PIT officials were hardly happy about Marquette's Dominic James' absence.



PIT officials were told James wanted to compete in the event and were willing to find a spot for him.



According to Mahlon Parker, the chairman of PIT, he and other tournament officials made repeated calls to Marquette coaching office concerning James but didn’t have any of their calls returned.



* The prevailing feeling among NBA officials in attendance was that James’ chances of being drafted now were slim to none.



* Another Marquette draft prospect, Jerel McNeal, declined an invitation to play in the PIT.



McNeal is generally regarded as a mid-second-round pick, although there are a couple of teams that have him rated as a late first-round selection.



* While Wisconsin forwrd Marcus Landy didn't make the all-tournament team at Portsmouth, he did acquit himself well.



Landry exhibited a nice all-around game and showed he’s capable of hitting the outside shot, something some NBA scouts had questioned.



Landry said the Houston Rockets have already talked to him about a pre-draft workout. Landry’s brother, Carl, is currently a backup forward for the Rockets.



* The Bucks were well represented at the PIT with general manager John Hammond, assistant general manager Jeff Weltman and player personnel director Dave Babcock in attendance.

WOELFEL ( probably pronounced WOE FUL) is a Milwaukee sportswriter.

[neilverson]

I like DeRozan alot the problem is we've had an overabundance of 2-3 swingman players on our squad for the last 6 or 7 years it seems. I honestly dont know too much about James Harden in comparison to the other prospects I've followed. When I did see Harden play on national tv he struggled against quality college teams. I think Flynn could be available at 8. Plus, maybe we'll end up with a higher pick than the 8?

Neilverson

[irish2u2]

Harden was the Big Gun for ASU and he didn't have a lot of help. Overall he's got serious game but not without questions. On the positive side he is smart, unselfish and well rounded. He has skills shooting, passing, defending and handling the ball. He's probably a hair under 6'5 but he is very strong and finishes well at the basket. He is not as tall or athletically explosive as Tyreke Evans or Demar DeRozan but he is athletic. Because he lacks freaky athleticism he's not a highlight film guy but he is steady, dependable and a winner. I'd be happy with him.

[kgooglog]

Lest we forget, there are the possibilities of Walsh also trading down or packaging this year's pick in a deal for a 2010 pick, which we don't have, as it belongs to Utah now. I believe the last time I looked at the Mock Draft, I saw Tyreke Evans as the Knicks choice. I know there has been somewhat of a division amongst us as to Ty Lawson or Ty Evans, although I am sensing that a couple of us are moving away from Lawson.

Perhaps the Knicks trade down and try to get two mid to late First Rounders, and Ironman's Jerome Jordan plus another player, can be acquired? Perhaps the Knicks simply take the best player available at the slot regardless of position? Perhaps Donnie trades our pick and a current Knick to move up in draft order?

I do not think we have any second round pick this year, either, although I could be wrong.

Oh, to be in Donnie's shoes is not as comfortable as I once thought. This summer is as equally important as 2010, and the excitement abounds. As does the fear of making a mistake in a trade or in a draft pick. I just don't want the organization to screw up the cap-room in any way for the Summer of LeBron/Bosh/Wade.

[ironman95]

If Walsh trades down for two lower picks, Ken, then I think we wind up with something like Chase Budinger and Jerome Jordan. I can live with that, but we will still need to sign a point guard from somewhere, to make this team reasonably competitive. Maybe Nash or Idd leaves their teams a year early? Drafting Evans solves two problems, at least for 2009, and gives the Knicks a year to find out which position, he is best at; 1,2 or even 3 sometimes. He is also very young, so he have a long career ahead of him. I still think Walsh can trade Harrington for an expiring and a draft pick, or package Nate(sign and trade) with Jeffries for an expiring and a draft pick. He could even do both! I hope he keeps Lee, but drafting Evans, Lawson, Flynn or Budinger means Nate and Hughes are of less importance. If Gallinari comes back healthy, and with Chandler going back to playing the 3, instead of the 2(lately), there is no need for Harrington. If the draft goes anyway close to the way most of us are speculating, there is no need for Nate, Hughes and/or Harrington.

[kgooglog]

I just went on NBADraft.net and I saw Greg Monroe's name listed on the 2009 draft list. I initially thought that it was an "old" Mock, but it was updated today. It was my distinct recollection that Greg was staying in school...

They list the Nets taking Monroe after NY takes Gerald Henderson, who I thought played for the Knicks around 25 years back.

Here is the url. Maybe the Kool-Aid has an adverse side effect;

www.nbadraft.net/2009mock_draft

[greatgates]

Apr 15, 2009 17:09:37 GMT -5 ironman95 said:

If Walsh trades down for two lower picks, Ken, then I think we wind up with something like Chase Budinger and Jerome Jordan. I can live with that, but we will still need to sign a point guard from somewhere, to make this team reasonably competitive. Maybe Nash or Idd leaves their teams a year early? Drafting Evans solves two problems, at least for 2009, and gives the Knicks a year to find out which position, he is best at; 1,2 or even 3 sometimes. He is also very young, so he have a long career ahead of him. I still think Walsh can trade Harrington for an expiring and a draft pick, or package Nate(sign and trade) with Jeffries for an expiring and a draft pick. He could even do both! I hope he keeps Lee, but drafting Evans, Lawson, Flynn or Budinger means Nate and Hughes are of less importance. If Gallinari comes back healthy, and with Chandler going back to playing the 3, instead of the 2(lately), there is no need for Harrington. If the draft goes anyway close to the way most of us are speculating, there is no need for Nate, Hughes and/or Harrington.

My understanding is that jerome jordan plans to return to Tulsa and will not submit his name for the draft.

[ironman95]

Thanks for the info, GG, I hadn't heard or read that, but that does make some sense. I think that is a good decision for Jerome Jordan, but not so good for the Knicks. There are no good attainable big men left. So one of those 3 on the squad now, better assert himself, and prove he belongs. Aldrich and Jordan will both be in the 2010 draft, and the Knicks have no pick right now. Now I want Walsh to make a deal for a 2010 pick, rather than a second 2009 pick. At least he has cards to play with DLee(I hope not), Robinson/Jeffries package, Hughes, and Harrington. I hope they re-sign Wilcox, hold on to Lee, if the price is right on them. With Duhon, Gallinari and Chandler here next year there is at least a nucleus, but still need help in the post and and the point. The parameters of the draft and the Knicks are changing every day it seems. Now picking at #8, I think Tyreke Evans is the best choice, with Ty Lawson my second choice. There won't be any big men worth picking at #8. The best athlete by far is Evans. Best basketball player is more debatable. One thing I know is that I don't want to see David Lee playing center all year next year. A second thing is that I don't want Chris Duhon to be the only "real" point guard on the team next year, because he will break down again. Walsh has a lot of work to do. Hope he's up to it!

[kgooglog]

Ironman...

I cannot agree with you more about Walsh going for a 2010 pick, what with two or three established players not going to the NBA as previously thought. We have "Spiderman" Sene, whose cup of coffee in the NBA, may prove to be valuable as D'Antoni and company start looking at big men this summer. I wish that Mike would have thrown Hunter out there for a spell, but Sene must have been prepared.

About your other point, all puns intended, I do believe that the Knicks will sign either Jason Kidd or Steve Nash, with Nash being the prohibitive favorite based on his relationship with Coach and his reported love of NY. My fear is that Kidd wil demand more money than Nash, although in this economic climate, we may be able to sign him for the year with the MLE.

Duhon has obviously placed so much doubt in everyone concerned as being a top notch starting PG. I almost think that Chris would relish the role of back-up PG, as Walsh and D'Antoni plan for this summer. Ideally, we could get an Andre Miller via trade but that is as likely as Eddy Curry coming into the summer looking like Dwight Howard. Or Mo Howard, for that matter.

We take Tyreke at #8. Oh, I forgot. We lost the 8th slot due to beating up the Nets junior varsity last night.

Why did the Knicks screw up their draft positioning? We could have played the new guys the entire game and retained our 2.5% chance at Blake Griffin. Now, we have a 1.7% chance, and one less ping-pong ball to play with. I suppose Sene's 4 minute run was worth it, though.

[axios]

we have the 8th dont fret.

[kgooglog]

Apr 16, 2009 14:01:46 GMT -5 axios said:

we have the 8th dont fret.

Good. Did you know I went through today thinking we actually had the 7th slot, thanks to Marc Berman's usual misinformation. I appreciate the data, Ax.