Photo Credit: Rick Rycroft/Associated Press
New York Knicks Could Land LaMelo Ball In Next Year’s Draft
With two months of game to play and the New York Knicks season appearing to be in shambles, it’s notable that the Knicks are poised to be one of the teams seeking to acquire a Top-5 pick. The Knicks are currently sitting in the 13th seed in the East with a 17-38 win-loss record, fair enough to increase their chances in landing a top-5 draft pick.
On Monday, Marc Berman of the New York Post reported that the Knicks scouting staff are instructed to draft a top scoring point guard in next year’s NBA draft. With a couple of names coming into mind, LaMelo Ball’s name is the most intriguing and the biggest name to potentially fill that role. Amidst the buzz, LaMelo also signed with incoming Knicks president Leon Rose to be his agent.
LaMelo Ball who averaged 17 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7 assists per game in 12 games playing for the Illawarra Hawks, was just recently named as NBL Rookie of the Year in Australia. Some polarizing prospects that could be possibly be on Knicks radar are North Carolina’s Cole Anthony and Georgia’s Anthony Edwards.
The Knicks are looking for someone to pair with rookie RJ Barrett in the backcourt, as the likes of Frank Ntilikina, Dennis Smith Jr. and Elfrid Payton appear to hold back the Knicks offense with their lack of 3-point shooting and poor scoring production. It’s still questionable if a player like LaMelo Ball would instantly help their offense and particularly fix their spacing issues, since judging from an efficiency standpoint, LaMelo has shot 37% from the field and 25% from 3-point range.
Nevertheless, LaMelo Ball and RJ Barrett backcourt could be promising in the future. If everything pans out like everyone intended it to be, the Knicks could have the best backcourt pairing in the league someday.
