Morning Knicks 8/18: Leon at the Lottery, Knicks' Bubble Observations, and More
-With the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery set for Thursday, the Knicks have chosen their virtual representative: team president Leon Rose. The team tweeted that Rose will fittingly be the franchise's face for the biggest night of his Knicks' tenure thus far.
-A few months ago, rumors were floating around about a lack of satisfaction for Devin Booker in Phoenix could lead the star guard to New York to reunite with his former agent Leon Rose. After the Suns went 8-0 in the bubble, that pipe dream has completely vanished. The Athletic's Mike Vorkunov has more on everything that happened in the NBA's eight-game bubble restart and how they could affect the Knicks.
-As the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery creeps up, Knicks fans are surely dreaming again of lucking into the number one overall pick, despite having the sixth-best odds. If you're a Knicks fan and you feel like lottery night has been a house of horrors for the team, you couldn't be more right. Our own Jonathan Macri wrote about how the Knicks have the second-longest "unlucky" streak in the draft lottery. You can read Jonathan's Knicks Film School newsletter for more on what that means, how devastating it's been for New York, and why maybe the Knicks could luck out on Thursday because they're due.
-Two pieces of news about the Knicks' front office and coaching staff came out yesterday. Forbes's Adam Zagoria reported that former Tom Thibodeau assistant Ed Pinckney will not join his staff as previously expected. Zagoria also said that Mike Woodson and Mike Miller are still the favorites to get assistant coach positions.
As reported by Alder Almo, the Knicks hired former Heat & Pacers analytics intern Kelsey Roberts. It's never a bad thing to add an analytics-driven member to a front office that still needs to embrace them, and Roberts has experience in two very well-respected organizations.
-The night of the 2017 NBA Draft Lottery was filled with hope for Knicks fans. There was an outside shot that the team could win the lottery, nab super-talented prospect Markelle Fultz, and pair him with their current young star, Kristaps Porzingis. In the end, Fultz flopped, the Knicks didn't get him anyways, and now they get criticized for passing on Donovan Mitchell. I wrote about that lottery night, and that despite all the oddities that followed, it led Knicks fans to their French Prince, Frank Ntilikina.
