2006 NBA Draft: Two Picks for Knicks

There's (moderately) good news and (very) bad news for the New York Knicks in the 2006 NBA Draft. By now, everyone knows that the Knicks no longer control their own first round pick in the 2006 NBA draft. That pick - second overall! - was dealt to the Chicago Bulls in the trade that sent Eddy Curry to the Knicks. Fewer people realize they've also dealt away their second round pick. That pick - #32 overall - was sent to Houston (along with Vin Baker and Moochie Norris) for Maurice Taylor. That's the (very) bad news. So what's the (moderately) good news? The Knicks still have two first round picks: #20 and #29. While no one's going to find the next LeBron James with those picks, it is possible to find players who can contribute. Unfortunately, it's even easier to end up with players who never do anything more than collect some paychecks before disappearing from the NBA scene.

To get an idea of the type of players that the Knicks might be getting in this year's draft, let's look at players selected 20th and 29th in the last ten NBA drafts.

20th Player Selected

Year 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005	Player Zydrunas Ilgauskas Paul Grant Roshown McLeod Dion Glover Speedy Claxton Brendan Haywood Kareem Rush Dahntay Jones Jameer Nelson Julius Hodge

29th Player Selected

Year 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005	Player Travis Knight Serge Zwikker Nazr Mohammed Leon Smith Mark Madsen Trenton Hassell Steve Logan Josh Howard David Harrison Wayne Simien

So what does this mean to the Knicks? Best case scenario, they draft players on a par with Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Josh Howard. Worst case, they end up with the second comings of Paul Grant and Serge Zwikker. Yikes! Knicks fans better keep their fingers crossed because the two players they come away with at the draft may be the only new additions to last season's 23-win embarrassment.