New York Knicks: Re-drafting the last 5 selections

2017 NBA Draft: Frank Ntilikina

Where to begin, am I right?

First of all, it is kind of hard to find “defense over offense” advocates among basketball fans nowadays. Thus, by being one, I am obligated to say that players like Frank Ntilikina are always needed when building a championship-caliber squad. Take Michael Cooper or Bruce Bowen as a few examples of defenders that silently helped create dynasties.

As a result, it is fair to say that no one should be bothered by the presence of a player with minimum ability to score the basketball, given that he contributes tremendously on defense.

But, on the other hand, no one can make the case for him being worth the eighth overall pick in an NBA Draft — especially with an extended list of more talented players selected after him.

Should have drafted: Dennis Smith Jr.

And here it is. The origin of all the memes and tweets when the Knicks traded away Porzingis in exchange for Dennis Smith Jr. and cap relief.

It was quite strange watching the Knicks pass up on Smith, especially since most mock drafts had Smith getting selected higher than Frank Ntilikina, and even higher than pick No. 8. It became severely peculiar after watching comments like these:

Dream selection: Donovan Mitchell

To be honest, you could make a case that Donovan Mitchell belongs to the aforementioned category. At the time, not many people could see him getting picked anywhere inside the top 10 of that year’s draft.

Having always been viewed as a late lottery pick, Mitchell was supposedly picked exactly where he should’ve gone. But this doesn’t change the fact that the Knicks nearly had a rookie who would average more than 20 points per game. The only other rookies to achieve this feat in the last 10 years were Blake Griffin, Kevin Durant and now, Luka Doncic.