No one knows what the New York Knicks are going to do in next week's NBA Draft, not even the guy who's job it is to know.
ESPN NBA Insider Chad Ford believes Phil Jackson and the Knicks could go in a number of different directions.
"Knicks are the ultimate wild-card in this draft. They seem to be looking at everyone at No. 4. Very tough to gauge what they're doing," Ford tweeted.
New York could trade down, as has been rumored, and pickup a big man later in the first-round if they aren't happy with the players left on the board at four. But Ford's gut seems to tell him that Ohio State point guard D'Angelo Russell will be the pick.
"As I wrote on Monday, the Knicks are exploring possibly trading their pick if [Karl Anthony] Towns, [Jahlil] Okafor and Russell are all off the board at No. 4," Ford wrote in his Mock Draft 7.0. "They'd trade down a few spots, grab someone like Frank Kaminsky and get a veteran to help them now. However, in this scenario, I doubt they trade their pick. For all of Phil Jackson's talk about defense, Russell is an almost perfect fit in the triangle. While he could go as high as No. 2, I doubt Russell slides past No. 4."
Russell averaged 19.3 points with 5.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game for OSU last season. He's got good size for the position at 6-5 and 180 pounds. But what stands out most about his game is his ability to shoot from deep. Russell averaged 41 percent from three-point range last year and can provide some much needed spacing for a cramped and depleted Knicks offense that ranked 15th in 3-point percentage (.347).
Whether or not he ends up being New York's pick, however, remains to be seen.
