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The NBA Draft Lottery is approaching and the New York Knicks are guaranteed to have a top-five pick. The Knicks will have the second-most ping-pong balls on the night of Tuesday, May 19. There are numerous different approaches the Knicks can take in the upcoming draft, but they reportedly want Kentucky big man, Karl-Anthony Towns. Apparently, the Kentucky freshman likes the sound of that.
The Knicks have listed their top-5 draft targets as such: Towns, Jahlil Okafor, Emmanuel Mudiay, D’Angelo Russell, Justise Winslow. Of course, Towns is most notable for his dominant play in the low post, both offensively and defensively. However, there are aspects to his game that were not put on display in college given the unprecedented amount of talent that his 38-1 Kentucky team had. Towns and his 6-foot-11 frame would be deadly if he proved to have the ability to score in the mid-range and perhaps even further out.
Towns is confident in his ability to do just that. In an interview with USA Today Sports, he said “I’m going to be able to shoot a little more freely, a little more deeper too.” The 19-year-old wasn’t just speaking in terms of shooting jumpers, talking about “more pick-and-pops and pick-and-rolls, or even me dribbling the ball off a pick.” If Towns were able to do these things, he would make for a nice option in head coach Derek Fisher‘s offense right away, with the possibility of developing into a star.
Towns’ desire to play for the Knicks is due, in part, to the presence of president Phil Jackson. However, much of Towns’ desire stems from his friendship with Knicks superstar Carmelo Anthony. The two met when Towns played for the Dominican Republic national team and played against Anthony and Team USA in Olympic qualifiers. Of the relationship, Towns said “It’s just a great friendship. I truly respect him as a human being more than as a player, and if I am fortunate or just given the chance to play for the New York Knicks, I see that friendship blossoming.” It appears that the two already have chemistry off the court, and if the draft plays out how the Knicks hope, Anthony and Towns will be able to develop their chemistry on the court.
Patrick Piascik is an NBA writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @patrickpiascik.
