With any luck this offseason, the New York Knicks will land a high pick in the 2015 NBA draft. If New York were unable to draft Duke freshman Jahlil Okafor, Ohio State freshman D'Angelo Russell would likely be the next best choice for Knicks president Phil Jackson, given a report how Detroit Pistons forward Greg Monroe would be a better fit in the triangle offense than Kentucky freshman Karl-Anthony Towns, whom many expect to be the second or the third pick of the draft.
If the NBA season were to end today, New York (14-60) would head into the draft lottery with a 25 percent chance of coming out with the first overall pick. Jackson would almost certainly draft Okafor, the projected No. 1 pick of the draft, if given the chance. If the Knicks don't land the No. 1 pick, though, Jackson may look to Russell as his next best choice.
Russell is a two-way guard with both size and basketball smarts, making him - in theory - a fit for Jackson's triangle offense. Even better for Jackson, who needs to win now, Russell is widely considered the most NBA-ready player in the 2015 draft and could finally give New York its point guard of the future.
Although fellow 19-year-old guard Emmanuel Mudiay has also garnered some attention, Russell is likely to be the first guard off the board given his body of work in one season at Ohio State. Mudiay, by contract, skipped college to play overseas and China and missed games because of an ankle injury.
Russell is expected to be a top three pick, likely behind Okafor and Towns. Towns, however, reportedly isn't the kind of center Jackson needs. According to a longtime confidant of Jackson, Towns lacks the wide body needed in a center playing within the triangle offense.
According to that same confidant, Jackson would be better off pursuing Monroe, who's been linked to New York before, in free agency.
