Morning Knicks 8/11: Virtual Draft Lottery Set for August 20, Targeting Marcus Smart, and More

Check out all the latest Knicks news, notes, and links for Tuesday, August 11.

-Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery will take place virtually on August 20, with each team having a representative. The date is earlier than previously reported and means that in a little over a week, Knicks fans will know where their lottery pick will fall. Additionally, this will allow the Knicks to have nearly anyone appear as the team's representative with everything being done virtually, creating endless possibilities of Knicks legends who could get the call. 

-Marcus Smart has proved his immense value time and time again to the Boston Celtics. His defensive versatility has our own Jonathan Macri longing for Smart to somehow wind up in New York. Jonathan wrote about Smart as the one player Knicks fans should have an eye on in the bubble. Smart would immediately bring a toughness to the Knicks that's unique throughout the NBA. While it could be hard to pry him away from Boston, Jonathan sees a pathway to getting the hard-nosed guard to the real Garden.

-There's been a plethora of pieces written about Tom Thibodeau after he was hired as the Knicks' next head coach. The Athletic's Mike Vorkunov did a phenomenal job of wrapping up all the Thibodeau information into one place, doing a detailed profile on Thibodeau and who exactly Knicks' fans are getting with their new man in charge. The article talks about Thibodeau's early days of coaching, what happened in Minnesota, how he spent his year away from being a head coach, and much more.