The NY Knicks surprised many with the draft selection of Kristaps Porzingis on Thursday night and Carmelo Anthony was one of those people, as reports from Stephen A. Smith and Frank Isola have Melo "furious" about the pick and moving forward the team may look at an Eric Bledsoe trade as an option along with Greg Monroe, Rajon Rondo and LaMarcus Aldridge as free agents.
The Knicks took Porzingis with the number four pick and that selection was met with mostly boos from the crowd in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center. Anthony reportedly is unhappy about the pick, according to Stephen A. Smith of ESPN and Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Smith said on Mad Dog Radio that his sources said that Anthony is "furious" and "livid" about the pick, as Porzingis is a project player and may need a few years to develop into a productive player.
Smith said that Anthony feels "hoodwinked" by Jackson and the front office, as he was expecting to get a player that could help the team right away. According to Isola, Anthony "doesn't understand why Jackson would waste such a high pick" on a player that will not be able to contribute right away. Isola added that he thinks the pick "makes sense" and that the team potentially could have a very good player in Porzingis. The Knicks only have a few players under contract for next season at the moment, with Anthony, Langston Galloway, Cleanthony Early and Jose Calderon among the group.
Porzingis now joins that group and while he is expected to need some years of development, he could surprise and contribute at least a little bit now. Porzingis is just 19 years old and he is over seven feet tall, giving him a major advantage with the shooting skills he has. Porzingis and Jerian Grant were acquired by Jackson in the first round and Grant is getting some good reports from scouts and draft experts in the analysis of the draft. The team was not expected to be able to flip Tim Hardaway Jr. for a first round pick and they were able to do it for Grant.
Porzingis can hit the three and he shot over 40 percent in the Eurocup last season and the Knicks are hoping he can contribute this year. On social media Anthony wrote: "What's understood doesn't need to be spoken upon" #DestiNY #TheFutureIsNow" and that could be a signal of what the sources reported.
The Knicks had the fourth overall pick in the draft on after falling two spots in the lottery and Phil Jackson took Porzingis after numerous reports that the team would consider trading the pick. Jackson said earlier in the offseason that the team was considering offers and Chad Ford at ESPN.com reported that the team would look at moving if Karl-Anthony Towns, Jahlil Okafor and D'Angelo Russell were off the board. The team obviously did not do that and now Jackson has a project on his hands and there is a chance he may not even be around to see how it turns out on the back end.
