Jackie Powell's Knicks 2k team: Guerin and Barrett, together

Richie Guerin leads the way, joined by RJ Barrett

When I was in middle and high school, which if you know me wasn’t such a long time ago, I watched the long and sometimes monotonous NFL draft with my father. Who would big blue select when their first pick was out of the top five? When I didn’t have my copy of Sports Illustrated by my side with Peter King’s mock draft, my dad always had the same answer: the Giants will go with the best available.

As someone who isn’t Knick obsessed akin to my colleagues here on Knicks SI, I knew this draft would be a challenge, a history lesson and just some big fun to distract me from this painful world without sports. So what do all of you think I did? Well with the eighth overall pick in the first round, I went with the absolute best available according to the All-time Knicks’ 2K rankings. At that moment, shooting guard Richie Guerin was the best available, posing 92 as an overall 2K rank. Something that was vital to me was I wanted players who weren’t only scorers or willing passers which Guerin was. I wanted guards who valued defense. He has been referred to as a “hard-nosed” shooting guard who “wore down opponents on offense and defense.”

My second pick followed my first. Following my best available rule, except there were four players tied for what I considered to be “best available.” Micheal Ray Richardson stood out as a point guard at 6’5”. Also, was his alias a bizarre reference to the pop-rock group Sugar Ray? Probably not. Anyway, Richardson was a triple-double king in his own right. In the age of Sabrina Ionescu, why not? Also, his defense. How could I pass up a league leader in steals?

I had some time before my third pick and unfortunately, the bulk of the talent was selected after my two old school picks. I had a decision to make. What would be the identity of a team with a strong backcourt? I needed a big who could shoot, enter Steve Novak. With the Knicks, Novak recorded a career-best shooting over 47 percent from three. His highlight reel proves that if left uncontested, he could knock down a clutch set shot.

My only regret at this moment might be selecting RJ Barrett instead of Bobby Portis...? I’m not necessarily sure. Portis has better numbers shooting and creating shots from long as a big, but Barrett, the shinny one and done the first-round pick from Duke, has the potential to be an elite rebounder and scorer. Or should I have picked Marcus Camby who was a legitimate big man?

Now my final pick, 40, which was the last pick overall. I needed another post player desperately. There were slim pickings. Phil Jackson or Herb Williams, who both possessed less than spectacular 2K ratings. Well, for Herb’s patience coaching at the Westchester County center and helping develop Liberty legend Tina Charles, I guess he was my choice.