The New York Knicks have had their fair share of blunders in their history of selecting players in the NBA Draft. Their selections of Kevin Knox and Frank Ntilikina, in particular, have drawn a ton of eye-rolls from Knicks fans who, at this point, have already become numb to the pain their franchise seems hell-bent on inflicting upon them.
But this is not a the time for negativity. On this list is nothing but positive vibes to remind Knicks fans of times where they did hit on their picks in the NBA Draft.
Here are the 10 best draft picks the Knicks have made in their 77 years of existence thus far.
10. Kristaps Porzingis
The Knicks haven't picked too often high up in the NBA Draft for much of the 21st century, as they have a penchant for trading away their first-round picks willy-nilly for some immediate help. Diehard Knicks fans will never forget how the team missed out on the opportunity to draft LaMarcus Aldridge and Joakim Noah thanks to their ill-fated trade for Eddy Curry. Or how about the time when the Knicks dealt away two first-round picks to absorb the onerous contracts of Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway, putting their team in cap hell in the process?
But in 2015, the Knicks had a rare high lottery pick, landing the fourth overall pick of the draft. They then took Kristaps Porzingis, much to the boos of the Knicks faithful present at Barclays Center. Little did those fans know that Porzingis would end up being one of the best Knicks draft selections of all time, a huge hit in a sea of lottery busts.
Porzingis endeared himself to Knicks fans with his relentlessness on the offensive boards, and at 7'3, his outside shooting became a lethal weapon for a Knicks team that was crying out for more weapons alongside Carmelo Anthony. By Porzingis' third season, he had blossomed into a full-blown Unicorn, making threes at a high clip while protecting the rim ferociously.
Alas, Kristaps Porzingis ended up tearing his ACL, which cut his Knicks tenure prematurely as the team decided to deal him to the Dallas Mavericks for draft assets in 2019. This outcome doesn't change the fact that the Knicks' selection of the ginormous Latvian was a successful one.
9. Gerald Wilkins
The less heralded brother of Atlanta Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins, Gerald Wilkins was a quality player in his own right. And for the Knicks to have gotten Wilkins for the 47th pick of the 1985 NBA Draft is nothing short of a robbery, as it's difficult enough as it is to pluck quality contributors from whichever draft spot.
Wilkins ended up being a huge piece of the team for the first seven years of his career, giving the Knicks another contributor as they tried to build a winning team around Patrick Ewing, the team's crown jewel from the 1985 NBA Draft. Wilkins started 480 games for the Knicks — a major return for someone many teams decided to pass on during the draft.
In 555 total games for the franchise, Gerald Wilkins averaged 14.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists on 46.1 percent from the field.
8. David Lee
The Knicks franchise isn't exactly bad at drafting. Throughout their many years of existence, they have managed to unearth quality contributors from almost every part of the draft. They just have not had too many opportunities to put their good drafting nous to use. But in 2005, the Knicks came out with not just one, but two quality big men who would proceed to have productive NBA careers in which they would win NBA championships. One of them was Channing Frye, and another was David Lee.
Frye wouldn't fully hit his stride until he departed the Knicks. But Lee, by the time his second season rolled along, had draft steal written all over him. Taken with the last pick of the first round, Lee became one of the best interior scorers of his time, an ambidextrous finisher who also crashed the glass with ferocity. He was also an underrated playmaking hub off the high post, a prototype in a few respects to what Domantas Sabonis did for the Sacramento Kings during the 2022-23 season.
He was a nightly double-double threat who began separating himself in a crowded Knicks frontcourt, and by the 2009-10 season, he was a full-fledged star, averaging 20.2 points and 11.7 rebounds to prop up an uninspiring Knicks team. Alas, the Knicks had their sights set on a bigger star in Amar'e Stoudemire, which spurred Lee's move to the Bay Area in 2010. The Knicks may have been better off keeping Lee instead, since Stoudemire's Knicks tenure would end up being marred by a plethora of injury woes.
7. Mark Jackson
When picking in the middle of the first round of the NBA Draft, the odds of selecting an All-Star-caliber player aren't too good. Thus, the hope is that the team will be selecting someone who can round out the core the team is building and that the player selected ends up being a quality piece for the franchise for years to come.
That's exactly what happened for the Knicks when they took Mark Jackson with the 18th pick of the 1988 NBA Draft. Jackson immediately became the team's starting point guard who averaged 13.6 points and 10.6 assists a night during his rookie campaign, and he helped lead the Knicks to a 14-win improvement from the prior season. And as fate would have it, Jackson would even make the All-Star team during his sophomore campaign. However, the team dealt him away in 1992 — a move that Jackson thought proved to be destructive to the team's championship hopes.
Jackson remains the Knicks' second all-time assists leader, owing to his unselfish play and great court vision during his six and a half-year run in the Big Apple.
6. Harry Gallatin
Evaluating players from the 1940s and 1950s era of the NBA is always a thankless task. But in the case of Harry Gallatin, he was one of the Knicks' best players during that era, a crucial piece on a team that almost won a championship, losing in the NBA Finals for three consecutive seasons.
Gallatin made the All-Star team seven times and averaged a double-double for his career. He later on became a coach for the Knicks.
5. Bill Bradley
Bill Bradley may now be known by many as the Knicks player who became a US Senator, but make no mistake about it, he was a crucial member of the Knicks' two title-winning teams in 1970 and 1973. He may not have been a Hall of Fame-caliber player, but the Knicks could not have asked a much suited player to fill the role they needed him to play in a core with the likes of Willis Reed and Walt Frazier.
Bradley was a reliable shooter from the perimeter, and he was a hard-nosed defensive player, sticking his nose against the most lethal perimeter scorers of his time. He was a loyal servant to the franchise for 10 seasons, playing in all 82 games for four of those seasons.
In the end, Bill Bradley made one All-Star team, and he ranks ninth on the Knicks' all-time scoring list.
4. Richie Guerin
Richie Guerin is one of the most underrated players in NBA history, and the Knicks did well to acquire him in the second round of the 1954 NBA Draft. It took Guerin a two years before he arrived in the NBA, and his rookie season wasn't exactly the stuff of legends, but from his sophomore season onward, he proved to be such a huge piece for a Knicks team that wasn't exactly in a good state of form.
During Guerin's prime, which lasted from 1957 to 1963, the Knicks made the playoffs just once, mustering just one winning season during that span. It's hard to fault Guerin too much for that, however — the Knicks roster was just that bad during his time. Even the greatest players need a useful supporting cast.
At present, Guerin ranks sixth in the Knicks' all-time scoring list, a testament to how lethal of a scorer he was during his peak.
3. Walt Frazier
It seems like blasphemy to put Walt Frazier at third on this list, given how incredible of a player he was for the Knicks during his heyday. Frazier played with an unmistakable pizzazz, as he and backcourt partner Earl Monroe had a flair for the dramatic, and he also had good size for his position, standing at 6'4.
He was one of the best guard defenders during his time, and he combined that lockdown defense of his at his position with his stellar ability to create shots for both himself and his teammates. His flair did not come at the cost of his helpfulness, as he was the kind of player who elevated his teammates.
The man affectionately known as “Clyde” spent 10 seasons with the Knicks, making the All-Star team for seven consecutive seasons in the 1970s. He retired as the team's leading scorer, only to be surpassed by Patrick Ewing almost 20 plus years later. Frazier also made the All-NBA First Team five times and the All-Defensive First Team seven times, strengthening his legacy as one of the greatest point guards in NBA history.
Now, he remains a legend in Knicks circles, thanks to his entertaining voice as the main color commentator/analyst for the Knicks' local game broadcasts. Frazier sure loves his rhymes, immortalizing the phrase “Posting and Toasting” in the process.
2. Willis Reed
Willis Reed brought forth arguably the most iconic moment in NBA history when he made that triumphant walk out of the locker room during Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals. Reed was hobbled, and he clearly wasn't 100 percent, but there he was, putting it all on the line for the Knicks as they won their first championship in franchise history. That won't appear on the box score, but it remains an indelible moment all the same immortalized for all eternity.
Reed was also one of the most dependable and selfless stars of his time, doing whatever the Knicks needed of him just so they could play winning basketball. When the Knicks dealt away Walt Bellamy, Reed showed his quality and capability as the team's main man in the middle, and he even won the league MVP award in 1970.
By the time the Knicks won their second championship in 1973, Willis Reed had already taken a backseat to Walt Frazier. But he was still as helpful as it's gonna get, as it took long for the Knicks to recover their status as a championship contender after Reed's retirement.
With how dependent on the big man the game was during his time, Willis Reed gets the nod over Walt Frazier by virtue of being the interior presence the Knicks needed to compete with the other giants of the league.
1. Patrick Ewing
Patrick Ewing ended his illustrious Georgetown tenure as one of the most esteemed draft prospects to ever enter the NBA. Back in 1985, the NBA was still a big man's league, so any team that would be drafting Ewing would get the services of one of the most gifted back-to-the basket big men of all time, a deadly scorer with a buttery touch around the hoop who combines his lethal ability to put the ball through the basket with nimble footwork.
Thus, his entry into the NBA became a hot topic, as any team that would be drafting him can set their sights towards a lengthy future of playoff contention. So when the Knicks won the first-ever NBA Draft Lottery, many called into question the legitimacy of that result, as some believed that commissioner David Stern wanted the draft's top prize to play in one of its biggest markets in New York.
Be that as it may, Patrick Ewing didn't turn the Knicks' fortunes around instantaneously. It took the Knicks three years before they made the playoffs with Ewing, and another season before they became a dominant presence in the Eastern Conference. Make no mistake about it, however, Ewing was one of the best floor-raisers of his time. The Knicks made the playoffs in 13 straight seasons with Ewing, even coming to within one win away of a championship in 1994.
Ewing ended his career as the Knicks' greatest player of all time, as he finished as the franchise's all-time leader in points, blocks, rebounds, steals, and minutes played, as he was a great servant of the team for 15 seasons. There may be some belief that the Knicks were better off without Ewing (the Ewing Theory), but it's difficult to imagine the Knicks being that good for that long had they not selected him with the first overall pick of the 1985 NBA Draft.
Follow Us
Subscribe