For the first time in 30 years, the New York Knicks made a selection in the top 5 of the NBA draft.
Unlike 1985 when they drafted Patrick Ewing — the consensus top prize that year, and perhaps the most universally renowned college basketball prospect of all-time — taking Kristaps Porzingis with the fourth pick was, well, a contentious choice.
When you’re the Knicks — a basketball clown car clogging traffic on 7th Avenue — drafting someone named Kristaps Porzingis may read as an insult to your fans.
Phil Jackson is paid handsomely to understand how sensitive the Knicks faithful have grown over the years. Following the worst season in Knicks history, Jackson needed to confirm on Thursday night his plans to change the fortune of the franchise — and, practically speaking, to validate his $60 million contract.
He was one pick away from the destiny of his Knicks presidency being tied to the talents of professional post-up artist Jahlil Okafor. Once Philadelphia pounced on Okafor — it was widely believed the 76ers wanted D’Angelo Russell at No. 3 — Jackson and general manager Steve Mills made a decision that sent ripples throughout the league… and fans at the Barclays Center into a familiar rage.
A man who has won 13 NBA championships since 1970, Jackson’s tenure and reputation as a basketball genius are forever tied to the success or failure of a Latvian forward named Porzingis.
What a wonderful world.
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
“Pau (Gasol) was 227 pounds when he came into the league, something like that,” Jackson told Associated Press reporters at the Knicks’ training facility in Greenburgh. “This young man has better range, perhaps, than Pau does. A natural 3-point shooter.
“He shoots it with great ease,” Jackson continued. “He fits very well into what we like to run.”
Evoking Pau Gasol certainly simplifies the decision. We wanted Porzingis. He can be the next Pau Gasol. I won championships with Gasol, and I plan on building a winner with Porzingis.
The 69-year-old has allowed himself to wear curmudgeon’s clothing the past few years: spouting off against the increased role of perimeter shooting; disavowing the pace-and-space makeover league-wide; “goink.”
Porzingis is a bizarre, esoteric choice by Jackson. Tagging Gasol in his introduction of Porzingis is revealing, however, of just how much competitive fervor Jackson has left.
The sport of basketball has evolved, in just five years, more rapidly than the old coach ever imagined. For some legends like Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley, this new frontier is scary and uncertain. Jackson, though, is much more courageous — something he hasn’t gotten enough credit for since leaving his lavish West Coast retirement and taking on one of the most taxing jobs in sports.
This moment in Knicks history is eerily close to 2009 waiting for Curry to drop into their lap… which never happened.
— Joe Manganiello (@thatjoemags) June 25, 2015
Jackson told us he wanted Towns or Okafor. That the Lakers improbably passed on Okafor, thus creating the one-pick-away dissonance of Jackson nearly getting his man, was unfortunate. So close and yet so far — New York was never getting Okafor, and Jackson understood that. Selecting Porzingis was obviously something he and Mills discussed at length in the weeks since New York’s lottery dud.
But just as Jackson told the New York Times, they came up with another plan, a brand new course for the franchise nobody expected them to follow. Jackson tucked back his pride by selecting Porzingis, an international Wonderkid with a deadly jumper at 7-foot-2. Having played his entire 75-game professional career for Cajasol Seville of the Spanish League, Porzingis shot 47.4 percent from the field and 31.8 percent on 3-pointers.
O’Neal and Barkley would laugh off the prospect of investing so much in a “foreign” player with a 7-foot-6 wingspan who “can’t even” pull down five rebounds per game. “Jump-shooter teams don’t win in this league,” they might suggest, and Porzingis is “soft” and “a bum.”
The perceived Jackson would have drafted Emmanuel Mudiay or traded down for another American-born player. It’s possible Jackson rolled around the idea of trading for Eric Bledsoe — abandoning the No. 4 pick for a quick fix at point guard, and banking on somebody noteworthy to fall to No. 13.
Perhaps there is a reason, though, why Jackson was at a facility in Greenburgh Thursday instead of being curled up in a hammock somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere. Maybe Jackson gets it. His social media persona, his coded interviews, his reliable surliness — could it all just be a front for the ingenious long-game playing out in Jackson’s mind?
https://twitter.com/RobMahoney/status/614251870438195200
I’m not necessarily ready to talk “fit” with Porzingis. What speaks much louder to me is Jackson’s fearlessness to take a player he knows would incite pushback. Porzingis is not a safe pick. In fact, considering how bare the cupboards are in the Garden these days, Porzingis might be set up for an apprehensive opening season with the Knicks.
Then, however, Jackson wheeled-and-dealed his way back into the first round by partnering with the Atlanta Hawks, who had previously traded down from No. 15 to No. 19. The Knicks sent Tim Hardaway, Jr. to the Hawks for the rights to Jerian Grant, a 6-foot-5 point guard from Notre Dame.
Grant averaged 14.5 points and 5.8 assists in 120 career games with the Fighting Irish. He was a consensus All-American in 2015 after leading Notre Dame to the Elite Eight. At No. 19, Grant is a bargain at roughly $1.2 million next season.
Hardaway had worn out his welcome in New York, playing with an ego much larger than his 11.8 points and 1.8 assists per game warranted. A strict two-guard who couldn’t stop the refrigerator from running, Hardaway is replaced by Grant, a lengthy, willing defender who overnight becomes the best point guard in New York.
The Knicks getting a 1st for Tim Hardaway Jr is…wow.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) June 26, 2015
.@jeriangrant: "I'm a playmaker. I make those around me much better." #KnicksDraft15 pic.twitter.com/dmBwo8VceK
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) June 26, 2015
Jackson could have called it a night after Porzingis. Every newspaper in Manhattan would sensationalize the selection, belittling the move and Jackson’s short tenure.
By trading back into round one, however, Jackson took control of the narrative by a hair. Sure, the press and the radio shows and the fans might loudly disagree with the pick, but every Knicks conversation about Thursday night has to include Grant, and including Grant means crediting Jackson for turning a problem (Hardaway) into a solution (Grant).
Once we afford Jackson the good graces of adding a pair of first rounders to the team, we can make peace with him taking Porzingis — an ultra-talented piece who could become a nightmare for NBA defenses in short time.
These Knicks are going to look a lot different by October. This is a long rebuild, one that was a long time coming for New York. Phil Jackson isn’t James Dolan — he’s the man Dolan’s paying $60 million to save his ass and the sanctity of his organization.
Now Jackson is all-in. Let’s see where the cards fall.
