Let's Play the NBA Draft!

The New York Knicks have a chance to be relevant again over the next couple of years for the first time in nearly a decade. It's safe for any Knicks fan to believe that Donnie Walsh knows what he is doing well enough that we could have a winner before the decade closes out. Not that it's guaranteed, but I think there is collective agreement amongst Knicks fans everywhere over what needs to be done. We know that we are going to have to suffer for a few years. We've been suffering since 2001, but now it has to be with a purpose instead of our normal aimless suffering. The team doesn't have any quality, it hasn't for years, but they are paid like they have talent. Walsh's purpose is to maintain awful quality while dumping all the excess salary. D'Antoni's purpose is to take the team of awful quality, and turn them into 30 wins or so. It gets D'Antoni paid while we build him a super team, and it pacifies the foolish people of New York who demand a winner immediately. The object of the game is this: make 3 years of good draft choices; trim the salary fat completely off of the roster; and open the door for marquee free agents by 2010. Ideally, this will be the highest draft choice we have over the term (I still think that we will be working with lottery picks, just higher end lottery picks). KnicksOnline.Com is so kind enough as to offer up this beautiful listing of who is getting paid what on the Knicks' roster. 2009/10 is the exciting year when we get to see Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis get dumped off the roster. So without wasting any more of your time, here is a list of Who I Want and Who I Don't Want! (This is assuming that the Knicks don't trade up to grab one of the big 3)

Who I Like

Russell Westbrook
My number one desire for this team is a point guard who can push up the floor and shoot the jumper. I know Simmons was a big fan of him when he was playing at UCLA, and I do trust Simmons to a degree. D'Antoni needs a guy like this, and I need a guy like this so I can sleep better at night.

Eric Gordon
He's a damn good shooter, and the Knicks need a guy like that right now, and will need him even more in a few years. This could be a great piece to the puzzle of the future. The kind of top-tier role player that could turn into a Joe Johnson type with the right attention and coaching...who coached Joe Johnson before he was in Atlanta again?

D.J. Augustin
Only a real possibility if the Knicks trade down to take him, maybe after the tenth spot. Still, I would be ok with trading down to take this guy, especially if we could pare off some salary.

Who I Don't Like

Danilo Gallinari
I don't trust this choice at all, especially since D'Antoni doesn't seem to like it much. Apparently, D'Antoni fancies himself a bit of an expert on Italian basketball, and Gallinari doesn't seem to fit the D'Antoni scheme.

Jerryd Bayless
I'm not sold on this guy because he played at Arizona..without Lute Olsen. Don't trust it, he's 19, didn't play on a good team, didn't prove anything. Thank you, but no thank you

Brook Lopez
Absolutely not! I will not tolerate any more goofy white dudes on the Knicks, not named David Lee.

Kevin Love
Please see above.

Joe Alexander
West Virginia a.k.a. a breeding ground for winners...wait, nope. If we wanted a poor man's Kyle Korver we could get him from somewhere else.