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After making an incredibly unpopular, yet possibly genius selection by taking Kristaps Porzingis at No. 4 in the 2015 NBA Draft, the New York Knicks have maintained a much-needed aggressive mentality by trading for Jerian Grant of Notre Dame. Grant was selected at No. 19 overall which originally belonged to the Washington Wizards, was moved to the Atlanta Hawks, only to be swapped for Knicks’ SG Tim Hardaway Jr.
The Knicks are trading Tim Hardaway to the Hawks, who will draft Jerian Grant for the Knicks, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 26, 2015
Hardaway Jr. showed glimpses of brilliance at times during his two seasons in New York, but also a tremendous amount of inconsistency, which couldn’t have rested well with Phil Jackson. While Grant could play at the two in the NBA, it’s far more likely that Jackson is rolling the dice on a player he feels he can turn into New York’s starting point guard going forward.
And I’m sure the fact that Grant is the son of Harvey Grant, and nephew of Horace Grant whom Jackson coached in Chicago, probably gives Jackson some assurance about the mentality of the player he’s taking the risk on.
From a purely athleticism standpoint, it’s hard to argue with this maneuver, as evidenced by this insane dunk.
Knicks fans meet Jerian Grant. https://t.co/bZaE7lo3Go
— NBA Stats (@StatisticsNBA) June 26, 2015
Now that Grant is with the Knicks, there’s reason to believe Jackson just might be onto something, and perhaps Knicks nation should give Jackson some breathing room considering he knows a thing or two about what it takes to win in this league, and this town.
Timothy Downs is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. You can ‘like him’ on Facebook add him on Google or follow him Twitter @Tidow1212
