National Basketball Association

New York Knicks Scouts Attend Kentucky Pro Day Practice

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Kentucky basketball program held a pro day practice on Sunday, October 9. The New York Knicks sent scouts to attend the star-studded event.

The New York Knicks have undervalued the NBA Draft for the better part of 15 seasons. Thus, it comes as no surprise that New York has secured a winning record in just three of the past 15 seasons.

Team president Phil Jackson is making a conscious effort to right the wrongs of previous regimes.

After years of blindly dealing away first-round draft picks, New York is finally keeping its selections. That process will start with the first-round pick that New York owns in 2017.

According to Ian Begley of ESPN New York, team president Phil Jackson has started the draft process by sending scouts to Lexington for Kentucky’s pro day practice.

The Knicks, who own their 2017 first-round pick, have people at Kentucky's 'pro day' practices… https://t.co/sG7XhtgVMH

— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) October 10, 2016

It feels good to have a draft pick again.

New York has kept its first-round draft pick in just three of the past seven years. All three players that it selected became starters, although two were traded within four seasons with the team.

For those unfamiliar, the Knicks took Iman Shumpert in 2011, Tim Hardaway Jr. in 2013, and Kristaps Porzingis in 2015.

New York traded the rights to its first-round draft picks in 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016.

Landing one first-round draft pick every two years is the perfect way to stunt the development of an organization. Thus, it’s nothing if not encouraging to know that New York has already begun the scouting process.

That could be the difference between building a sustainable contender and simply being solid for a brief period of time.

It’s also worth noting that since taking Andy Rautins and Landry Fields in the second round of the 2010 NBA Draft, New York has been dealing those picks, too. It selected Kostas Papanikolau in the second round in 2012, but traded his draft rights a month later.

The Knicks landed a grand total of zero second-round draft picks 2011, 2013, and 2016. Phil Jackson had to trade into the second round in 2014—Cleanthony Early and Thanasis Antetokounmpo—and 2015—Willy Hernangomez.

Having established this, one can’t help but feel encouraged by the progress the front office is making in 2016-17.

Embracing the draft is the first step towards building something that can last.