2021 Knicks NBA Draft reaction roundtable
The dust has settled on an active 2021 NBA Draft for the Knicks. How did they do? Were the moves they made prudent ones? Will the new Knicks get playing time? Our staff tackles the tough questions.
The Knicks had an ulcer-inducing stress test of a draft. On our Spotify GreenRoom live draft watch, Pod Strickland host Shwinnypooh was holding off on drinking his beer until the Knicks’ pick, and they made him wait no less than 30 minutes more than expected. Or at least it felt that way. Thanks for putting Shwin on edge and warming his beer, Walt Perrin!
The draft had emotions and pump fakes aplenty, several players who are not Knicks taking podium walks in Knicks hats, and Mark Tatum leaving us on edge every five minutes... but after a very long second round, our Knickerbockers added four talented youngsters to the talent pool: West Virginia combo guard Deuce McBride, Houston shooting guard Quentin Grimes, Lithuanian point guard Rokas Jokubaitis, and Texas center Jericho Sims.
It’s been roughly 24 hours, so we wanted to do a Strickland team temperature check to see how we’re feeling now — after a day to digest a surprising and hectic draft.
How are we feeling on the whole about this draft day haul? Opinions of lamestream media, draft Twitter, and more seem to be pretty varied, and a bit muted, if anything.
Tyrese: Whelmed. It was hard to fuck up this draft, and they managed to not fuck it up. I would’ve gone in a different direction than Grimes, but it’s hard to complain about nabbing a 40% shooter who gets them up at the rate that he does. I love the Deuce pick (the hashtag is #QuickDeuce btw), especially where they got him, and Rokas/Sims rounding out the rest of the crop isn’t too shabby either. If we were giving out grades, it’d be a solid 7/10.
Prez: I would be a dishonest, kowtowing blowhard if I didn't hold true to my big board.
Deuce was ninth for me, the only prospect on the board whom I had higher was Sharife Cooper. They targeted Tre Mann as well according to reports, but OKC took him one pick before the Knicks’ first pick at 19. Quentin Grimes was the pick at 25 after the Knicks made a number of trades, and he was also in my top 20. Rokas and Sims weren’t in my top 30, but they were in my top 45 (not pictured). So we got one of my top 10, another top 20, my top stash, and my top second round big man flier. If I called it anything other than a great draft, I would be bowing in the face of other takes. And I won’t do that! So, great draft!
Collin: From everything I’ve heard (and I’ve spoken to exactly zero more people than will be featured here), and everything I’ve read, there’s no reason to not be happy with this outcome. For all intents and purposes, the New York Knicks got everyone they wanted, reasonably, and along the way, added what, a first and a second round pick? Leon. Rose. Masterclass.
Of course, now is the part where Miles McBride and Quentin Grimes have to hold up their end of the bargain, and do what is justifiably considered the hardest part — show up. But given that both their resumes feature the word “defense” prominently throughout, I’d say that the Knicks did exactly what they were supposed to. New York grabbed two guys (guards, too!) that can do a little bit of good on both ends of the ball. The expectation was never higher than that.
Drew: Last draft, the Knickerbockers of New York played “the game” to move up to pick 25 to draft Immanuel Quickley. Draft Twitter, Knicks Twitter, Knicks Reddit, Knicks fans at the barber shops, and that one CBS Sports article all bashed the team for “moving up” for a player who was projected to be in the late-30s/early-40s.
How do you feel about the process by which we acquired picks — playing 4D chess and moving back and back and back and picking up a few chips for our troubles? Did Brock Aller get too cute?
Tyrese: I thought their process was great, even if the return looks underwhelming on the surface. The board at 19 was pretty bad for them; the wings who could contribute immediately were all gone, grabbing a third forward or a project big made no sense and the combo guards who they’d be interested in were all falling into the second. So, to end up flipping 19 for a first that will be thrown into a deal for Star Player X eventually is a win. They also managed to reduce the cap hit for Grimes by sliding down four slots, which shows that they’re trying to nickel and dime as much as possible — Aller is cooking, and es hora de comer.
Collin: I’m not being dramatic when I say this shit was Presti-esque. As you both know, I couldn’t stop laughing during the draft as each trade popped up. On a smaller scale, sure, but there were some definite similarities to the way the Oklahoma City Thunder head honcho maneuvers. There isn’t anything as “too cute” in these situations, in my opinion. You can’t win the game unless you’re willing to play. And as you so often pointed out Prez, all of these small assets will play a part in the very large trade package it’s going to take to finally land a star.
Prez: It feels so ballsy in real time to watch them trade back, knowing exactly what they are trying to do because they know and we know who they are targeting and where they are targeting them. I suspect for Leon and Co. it’s less of a guessing game, and therefore less stressful and more of a clinical maneuver, merely playing the board as they see it. Which is pretty neat, and something I am not used to.
Which neophyte are you most looking forward to watching?
Tyrese: Would guess the majority of us will say Deuce simply because we’ve all become big fans during the draft cycle, but I think I’d say Grimes, mainly because I think he’ll play more (more on that in the next section). Dude is a shooter’s shooter, so it’ll be interesting to see how he’s deployed within the offense and with certain personnel. I can see him getting DHOs if he’s playing spot minutes in the starting lineup; I can see him getting more shot creation opportunities and usage with the bench unit. His scalability will be fun to track.
Prez: Definitely the guards, but Jericho is easily the biggest highlight waiting to happen. I mean look at this shit from two weeks ago:
Practice dunk contests about to be OD with him, Mitch, and Obadiah.
Collin: I’ve got to see Quentin here, right? McBride is the prince who was promised to our beloved head coach Tom Thibodeau, but it’s Grimes who they took in the first round. That could simply be in anticipation of how the draft would play out, sure. But if we’re not playing devil’s advocate, then I’m betting someone (or someones**?) in the New York front office sees something in this kid, and I’m particularly interested in seeing what’s in store.
Give me some fun predictions about the kids. Are they even gonna play under Thibs? Will some be banished to White Plains?
Tyrese: Think you’ll see Grimes get 13-18 minutes next season, playing mostly the 2 with some minutes at the 3 sprinkled in. Deuce will be heading up Westchester due to rotation crunch, and may see some time when the inevitable D-Rose injury happens. Sims will be a mainstay there.
Collin: If McBride is the defensive stud that I’ve been led to believe, then it’s hard to see him not getting a shot to start the season. I mean, Thibs was rolling out an above-average serving size of Kevin Knox minutes to start last season. In fact, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think both he and Grimes are at least active and available for at least the first few games next year, no matter what happens. But I’m not sure we’ll ever see Rokas, and Jericho is a lock to start next season with the G League.
Prez: I really think minutes depend on how our free agency goes. We have some big questions to work out for our starting guards. Grimes could ostensibly start next to a legit point guard, but I don’t think Thibs wants a rook manning the 2 spot after the reliability he got from Sir Reginald last year.
What worries you most about these prospects? What about the situation they are stepping into?
Tyrese: What worries me the most about Deuce is his ability to process the floor as a primary in the NBA. Is he capable of using his gravity as a self creator in order to open up passing lanes, and then actually get passes to the open man? Can he generate the necessary rim pressure most primaries need? I don’t have many worries about him defensively — he’s going to be an absolute menace there. For Grimes, his touch around the basket worries me more than anything. He’s contact-averse, which is surprising given how strong he is, but he also has bad feel. Him improving in both these aspects, along with his array of shooting, could turn him into a very interesting player — but without it, he could simply be a rotation shooter with a 55-56 TS%, which is fine, but not ideal for a shooter of his caliber.
Collin: I’m not going to pretend to know half as much as you guys do about any of these guys, but in regards to their situation, it is still a little fuzzy just what that will look like in the fall. But we definitely haven’t seen anything from Thibs last season to erase the narrative surrounding his desire to develop young talent. Assuming we bring in some bigger names in between now and opening night, I suppose there is reason to be somewhat pessimistic about the short term outlook for at least one of the two youths. But I also firmly believe that if they show up to training camp and look ready, they’ll get an opportunity to earn a role on next year’s team.
Prez: What worries me about Grimes is the possibility that he’s a shot taker more than a shot maker, more Jeremy Lamb or Terrence Ross than Alec Burks or Danny Green. He had a pretty big jump from his first two season to his third season in terms of 3-point marksmanship. There’s definitely precedent, and I’ll be looking at the tape in depth in the week to come, but the line between elite shooting prospect and generic shooting guard free agent to be is a very thin one. Guys like Malik Monk and even Frank are floating around as good shooters at a young age, so there is a decent argument that the bar for Grimes’ success has to be higher than ‘’solid shooter’.’
