The Knicks traded Kevin Knox, which continues a rough tradition of New York’s front office punting on draft picks before their second deal.
Knox became the third player selected in the lottery by the Knicks since 2015 who is already no longer with the team. The former Kentucky wing joins Frank Ntilikina and Kristaps Prozingis as early draft picks who had unceremonious endings to their time in New York.
Unfortunately, however, this is nothing new for the franchise. As noted by The Athletic’s Fred Katz, the last time a first-round pick got a second contract with the team was actually all the way back in 1994.
The Knicks trading Kevin Knox, the No. 9 pick in the 2018 draft, means the Charlie Ward Curse continues.
The last Knicks first-round pick to secure a second contract with the team was Charlie Ward, who was drafted in 1994.
It’s been a while.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) January 14, 2022
Since 1994, when including draft-night trades and excluding draft-and-stash players, New York has selected 31 players who could become eligible for a second contract.
Charlie Ward, the former Heisman Trophy winner and two-sport athlete who played for the Knicks from 1994 until 2004, is the only individual in that group to play multiple seasons with New York after his rookie deal.
To put that in perspective, the last time the Knicks signed one of their drafted players to a multi-year contract after their rookie deal was in January 1999. Knox wasn’t even born yet. It’s baffling that not even one player has slipped through the cracks to earn a second deal in that stretch!
New York’s only other drafted players to even sign one-year extensions were Nate Robinson (who signed the qualifying offer in 2009 before he was traded to the Celtics in 2010) and David Lee (who also signed the qualifying offer in 2009 before a sign-and-trade to the Warriors in 2010).
Although that history reflects poorly on New York’s past ability to build through the draft, the tides could change. The front office changed many times (Ernie Grunfeld to Scott Layden to Isiah Thomas to Donnie Walsh to Glen Grunwald to Phil Jackson to Steve Mills) over that period.
Knicks entered the 2021 draft with the Knicks the 19th, 21st and 32nd picks.
They managed to turn those three picks into:
Cam Reddish,
Quentin Grimes,
Roku Jokubaitis and,
Deuce McBride.That's impressive. Quality front-office work by Leon Rose and company.
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) January 13, 2022
Now, none of those people are involved with basketball operations and Leon Rose is at the helm. We won’t get much sense of how Rose conducts business when offering second contracts to drafted players until he has his first chance to do as much.
Mitchell Robinson, drafted alongside Knox in 2018, is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. Rose’s decision there will be the first indicator of what might be to come.
RJ Barrett, selected with the No. 3 overall pick in 2019, is eligible for a rookie extension this offseason. He could earn up to a 5-year, $181 million deal — although would likely accept less than that. Barrett, however, is the first player selected since Rose joined New York’s front office.
Of course, it’s too early to predict what will happen to players drafted last year (Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley) and this year (Quentin Grimes, Miles McBride, Jericho Sims) so far. But early returns on their careers ought to make fans optimistic.
Regardless, it’s still crazy to think that no New York draft pick from this century has signed a multi-year deal with the Knicks after their rookie contract. If you don’t believe me, take a trip down memory lane to revisit the group of players Knox now joins.