Did Knicks Make a Mistake in 2009 NBA Draft?

After 10 games and a 1-9 start, it’s easy to get on the Knicks for a lot of things, including their choice of first round pick in the recent NBA Draft. In hindsight, what were the Knicks thinking choosing Jordan Hill with the 8th overall pick? After the start 10th overall pick Brandon Jennings has had with the Bucks, he could have been doing some things for the Knicks. I can’t totally fault the Knicks for not picking Jennings, who played professional ball in Italy the season prior because he didn’t want to go to college., because who really knew? I fault the Knicks for their choice they did make.

Only 10 games in, we have no idea what kind of career Jordan Hill is going to have. He may turn into an All-Star for all we know. It’s just that the pick wasn’t “sexy”. Hill isn’t a guy that’s going to pump up the fan base. He isn’t going to put up 20 or 30 points a night. He isn’t going to make thrilling plays. He’ll be decent.

Before the draft, several prospects publicly said they would love to be drafted by the Knicks. These were players that would have put some life into the team and fan base. Brandon Jennings was one of these guys. So was Stephen Curry. Knowing that they didn’t own a first round pick in next year’s draft, the Knicks really needed to make a “sexy” in the 8th slot of the ’09 draft.

Jordan Hill’s College Statistics (Arizona)

Reviewing these stats, Hill wasn’t going to come in a be a stud his rookie year. These are pretty good stats and again, he might turn out to be a good player, but the Knicks didn’t need a guy that was going to just be good, play his minutes, get some rebounds, score a few points and that’s it. They needed someone who was going to make things happen in his first year. A guy that was going to turn the engines on the franchise in the season prior to the big free agent period of 2010.

The draft didn’t go the Knicks’ way, I understand that. They expected either point guards Stephen Curry, Jonny Flynn or Ricky Rubio to land at number eight for them but when that didn’t happen they went Hill. The Knicks were actively pursuing a point guard in the draft and tried very hard to get one. When they came to realization that it wasn’t going to happen, they should have looked at lesser guards like Jennings, Ty Lawson, or even Jrue Holiday.

Maybe the Knicks did all they could and just couldn’t make anything happen and they were stuck with Hill. They won’t admit that though.