The New York Knicks Made A Big Mistake In The 2018 NBA Draft

The New York Knicks had a chance to draft Michael Porter Jr. in the 2018 NBA Draft.

There are currently three teams left in the 2023 NBA Playoffs, as the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics will play Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday night, and the Denver Nuggets have already advanced to the Finals.    

The Nuggets are in the Finals for the first time in the franchise's history, and Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic are arguably the best duo in the league.    

In addition, Michael Porter Jr. has proven to be a significant X-factor. 

The 24-year-old is averaging 14.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per contest while shooting 45.5% from the field and 40.8% from the three-point range through the first three rounds. 

“We know we got bigger goals..” - MPJ#MileHighBasketball #BringItIn pic.twitter.com/fVKXPGEwOz

— AltitudeTV (@AltitudeTV) May 23, 2023

The Nuggets were able to draft Porter Jr. with the 14th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft because there was concern from teams about his injury history.   

ESPN ranked him as the second-best player in the class of 2017, so if he were healthy, Porter Jr. would have likely been a top-three pick. 

Who Missed Out On Porter Jr.?

While many franchises had the chance to select Porter Jr., the New York Knicks look like the team who should have taken the gamble.   

They had the ninth pick and selected Kevin Knox. 

The @nyknicks select Kevin Knox with the #9 pick in the 2018 #NBADraft pic.twitter.com/DRadwLSiJM

— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 22, 2018

At that time, the Knicks had missed the NBA Playoffs for five straight seasons, so they had nothing to lose.  

Knox was a good player at Kentucky but only ended up playing three and a half seasons for the Knicks and averaged 8.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per contest while shooting 36.9% from the field and 34.6% from the three-point range in 195 regular season games (he also appeared in one NBA Playoff game for the franchise). 

Meanwhile, Porter Jr. is only four victories away from playing a major role for an NBA Championship team. 

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