The New York Knicks are coming into the NBA draft with the fourth overall pick and the team has a number of targets they are looking at, including Justise Winslow, Cameron Payne, Trey Lyles, Emmanuel Mudiay and Frank Kaminsky and this comes as Phil Jackson could consider making a trade down depending on who the team wants to draft.
The Knicks were jumped in the draft lottery and now they have to weigh whether to take the best player available, go for need at number four or to trade down. The team originally wanted to get the chance to draft Jahlil Okafor or Karl-Anthony Towns, but now they are at four and likely will watch the Lakers and Wolves take those players. The Knicks still are in position to get a top pick, as they are focusing in on players like Mudiay and Winslow.
According to ESPN New York and Pro Basketball Talk, the team is working out Mudiay, Winslow and Kaminsky, while they also are heavily looking into Payne. The team reportedly is very high on Payne and Trey Lyles, but both players are considered mid-round picks. Jackson said earlier in the season that the team would consider trading down in the draft and that could come into play if the team wants Payne. The Thunder reportedly have said they will take Payne if he is available and he would fit a major need for the Knicks.
The Knicks cannot afford to get a bust with this pick, so taking a player like Mudiay or Lyles at number four could be too high to do it. Most mock drafts have the team taking Winslow and that is the prevailing thought right now in basketball circles, but that could change as the draft gets closer. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, Winslow is a main target for the Knicks and the team worked him out this week as they try and whittle down their list of prospects. The team is also reportedly interested in European prospect Kristaps Porzingis, who played in Spain last year.
Porzingis comes in after averaging 10 points and five rebounds per game and he also is just 19 years old and would be a project, but he reportedly is considered a good fit for the triangle offense. Chad Ford wrote after the lottery on ESPN that Mudiay and Okafor are the top two players on the draft board for the Lakers. The mock draft by Ford has Towns going number one with Okafor at number two, while Russell goes at three to the Sixers. The Knicks have Justise Winslow in that mock draft and many see the team picking either Winslow or Mudiay.
According to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, the Knicks are looking at Justise Winslow and Trey Lyles as potential draft options along with Willie Cauley-Stein. Isola writes that the team likes Lyles a lot and that could force them to look at a trade, as he is considered to be more of a mid-round pick than a lottery option. Lyles is getting more attention, but the Knicks may trade down to pick him.
