Knicks Get SHOOTERS in 2019 Draft & Post-Draft Signings

It looks like it may have been another good draft for the Scott Perry Knicks. They went for and got SHOOTERS.

Last year they took Kevin Knox at #9, picked Mitchell Robinson in the 2nd round, and signed the undrafted Allonzo Trier after the draft. Knox and Trier finished in the top 8 in rookie scoring; Robinson led the NBA in blocked shots per minute and has sky-is-limit potential.

Knicks Got SHOOTERS

Early last season Coach David Fizdale said the team had a lot of young talent but lacked the shooters that he would prefer to have. In this draft, the Knicks got SHOOTERS. The 2019 Summary:

• #3 overall pick — RJ Barrett, superstar out of Duke.
• 2nd-round pick — the Knicks traded up for the #47 pick and used it for 6’7″ scorer, Ignas Brazdeikis — a Lithuanian who grew up in Canada and starred as a freshman on Michigan. GM Scott Perry said Brazdeikis had really good analytics. (See below.)

The Knicks then signed the following undrafted players:

• Kris Wilkes of UCLA to a 2-way deal.  A wing player and scorer and highly rated out of high school. According to Marc Berman of NY Post, the 6’8″ Wilkes “didn’t want to be taken in second round for a two-way deal so he chose free agency and hopes to play his way into a real deal for Knicks. Ala Allonzo Trier.”
• VJ King of Louisville — a former 5-star high school recruit and McDonalds All American who looked great first year at Louisville but faded year two.
• Amir Hinton of Division II Shaw University — prolific scorer in Division II.

Kris Wilkes was expected to get drafted. As a Knick fan you hope a) he’s really good, and b) going undrafted gives him the chip on his shoulder that it gave Allonzo Trier.

The Stats Back Them Up

The Knicks getting SHOOTERS is backed up by these stats from Synergy Sports:

#1 — now a Knick

#2 — now a Knick

#3 — now a Knick

Barrett

Zion Williamson was asked what it was like being the best prospect since LeBron James, and his answer was — “it feels like being RJ Barrett”.

RJ Barrett: What does it feel like being the best prospect since LeBron James?

Zion Williamson: It feels like being RJ Barrett.

(Via @gswchris) pic.twitter.com/sV2ZKz2mC2

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) June 19, 2019

(Note: Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton were once both individually asked what it was like to be the best guitar player in the world, and both said “I don’t know you should ask Roy Clark”. Not sure if Zion knows that.)

Post Draft Conference

Here is the post-draft Knicks press conference, introducing the two picks: