Knicks' Draft Lottery Misfortune Presents First Snag of Jalen Brunson Era

The Dallas Mavericks tanked both their season and the New York Knicks' potential NBA Draft plans, a plan fully realized upon the lottery balls' bounce on Tuesday.

If there's one certainty about New York Knicks basketball in the new century, it's that this franchise has certainly seen worse.

From a New York perspective, Tuesday night carried relatively little heartbreak beyond the idea that fans could've been preparing for their team to play in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals the following evening. The recently-snapped playoff run tore the Knicks' raffle ticket in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes (eventually won by San Antonio) but New Yorkers, including the team's decision-makers led by president Leon Rose, still had a little something to wish for. 

Had one of the four teams behind the Dallas Mavericks leapfrogged them on the draft board, the Knicks would be armed with a pick no better than 11th ... but no worse than 14th. That's a range that has given rise to the NBA careers of Bam Adebayo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Haliburton, Donovan Mitchell, Domantas Sabonis, and more in the past decade alone. 

The Knicks would've been entitled to partake thanks to the final caveat of the polarizing Kristaps Porzingis trade, which includes the condition of top 10 protection. Dallas secured the inside track to keep it by declining a postseason berth and more or less throwing their final two games, resting starters to clinch 21st place on the Association ledgers. The gambit worked, as the Mavericks stayed in the 10th slot as part of an uninterrupted stretch from 6th through 14th on the board. Owner Mark Cuban and the Mavericks were fined $750,000 for the stunt but that's likely no consolation to the Knicks.

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This summer's draft would've been the first where the Knicks' regularly-scheduled opening pick would've landed beyond the opening dozen since 2013 ... if they had that pick, that is. Combined with what transpired at last year's draft, the Knicks wouldn't hear their name called to the podium if the 2023 selections were held tomorrow.

Like many metropolitan happenings over the past calendar year, blue-and-orange observers can thank Jalen Brunson for it. 

After a considerable amount of hype leading into last year's arrivals, Rose and the Knicks opted to use draft night to build a savings account: Ousmane Dieng and Jalen Duren briefly lingered on their roster but the Knicks saved at least $11 million over the next three years by not paying an 11th overall pick. Those prospects served as the necessary bait for NBA brethren to take on the albatross contracts of Alec Burks, Nerlens Noel, and Kemba Walker, freeing up more money to grant Brunson his $104 million deal bestowed weeks later, one that lured him away from the Lone Star State and incurred the wrath of Cuban.

The Knicks got picks back in those deals, albeit loaded up with protections that were easily fulfilled (i.e. a pick from No. 8 Washington that was protected within the top 14). The aforementioned originally-bestowed choice would've landed at 23rd overall had it not been sent to the Pacific Northwest as part of the Josh Hart deal with Portland. This year's second-rounder (53rd, now in Minnesota through other dealings) is also gone as part of last summer's contract/pick purge, leaving them to be potentially pick-less for the first time since 2016.  

Brunson's the one to thank for that ... and, for the first time, the gratitude arrives in facetious fashion.

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Granted, if this is the biggest tragedy that befalls the Knicks during the Brunson era, the long-suffering fanbase would be euphoric and it'd be a glowing review of the Roseee era. Brunson is the newly-minted face of the franchise and helped the Knicks build a solid foundation that's both exciting and sustainable. It's a good thing he has made the $104 million look too low: by losing their picks and trading the current No. 23 to pick up his college teammate, the Knicks lost a solid bargaining chip. 

The Knicks have made it clear that while they're pleased with Brunson's performance, they'd like to add another established star to the fold. Any such deal would likely have them trying to press the newly installed nine-figure extensions of RJ Barrett or Julius Randle onto another team, or a lottery choice who hasn't gotten much of a chance to showcase his true potential like Obi Toppin. An early draft choice would've, like the albatrosses before it, sweetened the deal. 

The ironic part of the matter is that there's no real argument to say the Knicks did the wrong thing. Enough has been said about what Brunson established last season while Hart provided the spark necessary for the team to make a legitimate playoff run and there's legitimate hope that his New York tenure was more than a rental. If the Knicks truly have no picks and still have Brunson, Hart, and their current core that won 47 games, there are far bigger calamities to deal with.

It took 93 games for a true, potentially lasting problem to rise in the Brunson era. Ironically, this is one that the point guard himself can't quite fix. 

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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