The New York Knicks want the rest of the league to know that their future first-round draft picks are off limits to any trade proposals. According to Ian Begley of ESPN, Knicks president Steve Mills said that among the changes the teams will start making is treating high draft picks with more importance.
Asked about past Knicks mistakes that the organization will avoid in the future, president Steve Mills says, “We’re not going to trade any of our (1st round) draft picks.” Mills adds that they aren’t going to trade assets for a player that they can sign in free agency.
It’s one thing for the Knicks to say they’re not going to let go of their draft picks and it’s another to actually resist the temptation. The franchise has had a notorious habit of trading away future assets in the form of first-round picks. Back in 2004, the Knicks shipped Antonio McDyess, Charlie Ward, Maciej Lampe, and Milos Vujanic together with a pair of first-round picks (2004 and 2010) to the Suns in exchange for Stephon Marbury, Anfernee Hardaway, and Cezary Trybanski. That 2010 pick could’ve landed the Knicks someone like Gordon Hayward or a Paul George.
Here’s another example. In 2006, the Knicks traded for Eddy Curry, Antonio Davis, and a first-round pick that turned out to be Wilson Chandler for a number of players and a couple of future first-round picks (2006, 2007) and a couple of second rounders. The Knicks could’ve used that 2006 pick to get LaMarcus Aldridge or a Kyle Lowry. Of course, that’s assuming New York avoids stepping on an Andrea Bargnani or Adam Morrison landmines (Bargnani suited up for the Knicks later in his NBA career).
New York has a first-round draft pick next year, so we’ll just have to wait and see if the ghost of Isiah Thomas lures the Knicks into giving away that selection.
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