Knicks · Breaking down draft Point Guards (page 1)
Thank you, now if we could just find one that wasn't already broken down it would really work. 
Last time we had one of those for a full season, his name was Charlie Ward.
EnySpree wrote:Paris907 wrote:http://nypost.com/2017/03/03/breaking-down-players-who-could-be-next-knicks-point-guard/Pitino likes Fox I do too. Can't teach speed and the jumper will come. He scores, penetrates and can D.Lazy bastard!!!!
Lazy bastardS!!!!!!
In a perfect world, the Knicks would steam into free agency this summer and land one of the primo point guards at the top of the heap, a Steph Curry, Chris Paul or Kyle Lowry.
If you haven’t noticed, neither the world nor the Knicks are perfect. Forget those top-tier talents.
“It’s either through the draft or overpaying a Jrue Holiday or Jeff Teague. I don’t see any of the big guys changing teams,” said former Nets assistant general manager Bobby Marks of The Vertical. “It’s a good free-agent market, but it’s not a good free-agent market for players to switch teams.”
Despite Derrick Rose’s public desire to stay in New York, the likelihood of the Knicks retaining him roughly equals the Nets’ chances of making the playoffs. So it’s the draft where the Knicks history of homegrown point guards shows Mark Jackson and Charlie Ward over three decades. Or it’s paying through the nose, liver and lungs in free agency.
The draft is loaded with point-guard talent, including two guys, Markelle Fultz of Washington and Lonzo Ball of UCLA, who could go 1-2. The Knicks would need a tank job of unfathomable losing to position themselves with enough pingpong balls for a realistic shot at one or two.
Other quality point guards dot the draft: Dennis Smith of North Carolina State, De’Aaron Fox of Kentucky and international stud Frank Ntilikina of Strasbourg.“Lonzo Ball is the best talent at the point-guard position,” said ESPN college analyst Jay Bilas. “He’s Jason Kidd. So if you can get a player like that, anybody would love to have him. But that’s going to require being in the top couple of picks.”
Said one college scout for an NBA team: “It’s a toss-up between Markelle Fultz of Washington and Lonzo Ball of UCLA. Fultz is a very dynamic scorer. Can create his own separation. Extremely mature.”
Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino of Louisville rated Fultz, Ball and Fox as his top three points, but sees the trio gone within the first seven picks. The Knicks currently are tied for the ninth pick.
Pitino said he likes Fox’s defense — and makeup.
“Very long. Not a great shooter now, but can score,” Pitino said. “Incredibly athletic, very fast, gets in the lane. Just an amazing point-guard athlete. He’s long. Has really long arms. He’s a freak athlete.”
But there is an inherent problem. It’s New York we’re talking about.
“There’s only like two or three guys in the world that you hand the ball to in New York City,” said another NBA scout. “It’s hard. It’s not good or bad or anything. It’s just difficult.”
So the Knicks will consider established guys and see an equally difficult problem. Even after the big three, the Knicks would be hard-pressed to land any of the next batch of points, including New Orleans’ Holiday, Utah’s George Hill or Indiana’s Teague. Next on one website ranking is Rose, then San Antonio’s Patty Mills.
“San Antonio guys don’t leave San Antonio,” one NBA executive said. “He’s a valuable part of what they do.”The cost could be prohibitive for the Knicks, who should have about $25 million to spend. The Pelicans almost have to keep Holiday.
“He would probably command at least $16 [million] or $17 million. But I can see New Orleans overpaying him because they’re so limited in what they can do with their roster because if they lose him, they’re really in trouble,” Marks said of Holiday, while predicting Curry, Paul, Lowry and Hill also stay put.
Hill wanted an extension in Utah, but the Jazz have put it off. Still, many feel he wants to remain in Utah. Teague could also be a difficult get — he could get around $15 million. And he was born in Indianapolis.
On the trade front, Reggie Jackson was on the block in Detroit at the deadline. But the Knicks would have to come up with about $18 million in players’ matching salaries if they wanted that deal. So stick with the draft.
Everyone loves Ball.
“A Jason Kidd clone,” Bilas said.
“He gives you everything, a triple-double guy,” said former Net Mike Gminski, now a TV college broadcaster.
Everyone loves Fultz — including many in Boston, where the Celtics have the Nets’ pick that is favored to be atop the lottery.
“He could very well be the first pick. Decent size, 6-4. Very skilled. Effortless scorer,” Bilas said. “One thing: He hasn’t really impacted winning at Washington. But he’s an extraordinary scorer. Really talented.”
Then there’s Fox.
“Fox is John Wall-like in his speed, in his ability to get the ball up the floor,” said one of the NBA team college scouts.
“Defensively, he might be the best one. But he can’t shoot. He’s not a very good shooter at all.”
Two other guys headed for lottery selection are Smith and Ntilikina. Most of the experts raved about Smith’s offensive physical talents.
“An explosive point guard who had a knee injury in high school but is very explosive,” Bilas said. “Really talented player who doesn’t defend at a high level, but offensively he’s special.”
Gminski said he liked Smith’s physical talents: “Pro body, has got good size, he’s solid, really strong, really electric with the ball” but noted, “he falls into the Ben Simmons category. You knew it was going to be one year.”One scout said Ntilikina could be risky, but the Knicks gambled recently on a foreign prospect. And few criticize drafting Kristaps Porzingis.
“Very long point guard who can shoot it. Still figuring it out, but he’s benefited just from being an 18-year-old playing with grown men,” one NBA scout said of Ntilikina. “He probably won’t be ready to make a major impact from the get go but there’s a lot of potential. He’s the best international prospect in this draft.”
There are red flags even with the can’t-miss guys. Ball’s father recently said, then retracted, that his son would only play for the Lakers.
“The best true point guard in the group is Lonzo Ball. He’s the one with court vision. For a guy his size, he can really handle the ball but he’s better at getting other guys shots,” one of the NBA college scouts said. “The problem you’re going to have with him is his father, his family. Part of the reason he is the player that he is, is the way he has been developed. But it’s going to be a [expletive] handful.”
When the Knicks pick, the point guard they want easily could be gone. So they could go away from a point. If the triangle offense is embedded, they might look at a different position. Josh Jackson of Kansas, a 6-8 small forward who could be off the board, might top their wish list.“If you said to me, ‘Who out of all these guys will be the best pro?’ Josh Jackson of Kansas could be the best pro of the whole group,” Pitino said. “Legit 6-8, Magic Johnson-type passer, great scorer. … He shoots it well enough. Not a great shooter, but he’ll get a lot better. Great athlete, great passer, great vision.”
If available to the Knicks, he could make sense. Phil Jackson’s history with point guards supports the notion.
“If they’re going to continue to run the triangle, you don’t need a point guard. On Phil’s teams, the point guard was the 3-point shooter who initiated the first pass and then Kobe [Bryant] did whatever he did and Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen did whatever they did. That’s not an offense that commands a dynamic point guard,” one scout said.
Another scout disagreed.
“My thing is are they committed to Derrick Rose or not?” he said. “Because if they’re not, then they need a point guard.”
Which brings us to the draft.
