The offseason is off to a rocky start for the New York Knicks after dropping to the third overall pick in the upcoming draft.
New York Knicks fans have endured years upon years of misery. Eventually, something had to break right for the organization, right?
Wrong. The Knicks fell to the third overall pick in the draft after a remarkable jump from the New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies. Those two squads jumped all the way to No. 1 and No. 2 respectively.
They will miss out on the opportunity to draft Zion Williamson. However, one of either Ja Morant or R.J. Barrett will be there for the Knicks at No. 3.
Falling to three is certainly a disappointment with a generational talent like Williamson on the board, but this wasn’t the worst-case scenario that many Knicks fans expected.
This year marked the first time the NBA is using new lottery odds. As a result, the Knicks only had a 14% chance at No. 1 despite having the worst record in the league.
The Cleveland Cavaliers and Phoenix Suns also had a 14% chance at the top prize. They both dropped to fifth and sixth in the draft respectively.
Moreover, all fourteen teams in the lottery had, at least, a small chance at landing the first overall pick. It’s wild that the Grizzlies and Pelicans were able to fly up to the top of the draft, but we knew this was a possibility.
Additionally, the Los Angeles Lakers soared to fourth overall despite only having a 9.4% chance at entering the top four of the draft.
The lottery was a big first step for the Knicks, but that’s exactly what it was: the first step. Now, general manager Scott Perry and team president Steve Mills need to figure out what they want to do after failing to hit the jackpot.
The Knicks have done a commendable job at positioning themselves for a successful offseason. However, the lottery is all about luck. The rest of the offseason is about whether or not Perry and Mills are up to the challenge of building a championship roster.
