Last year, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was an All-NBA first-teamer. He may be even better this season.
Meanwhile, forward Kevin Knox has become an NBA journeyman and is now in his second stint with the Pistons.
Back in 2018, Knox was drafted by the Knicks with the No. 9 overall pick. Gilgeous-Alexander was drafted 11th by the Hornets, who immediately traded him to the Clippers.
Serving as a reminder of all this was the Knicks’ 129-120 loss to Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder on Wednesday night. SGA was again brilliant, scoring 36 points.
Stefan Bondy of the New York Post revisited the Knicks’ 2018 draft decision in an insider-only piece.
“The Knicks really messed up — and I mean really messed up – by drafting Kevin Knox in 2018,” Bondy wrote. “It isn’t talked about as frequently as the 2017 flub when they passed on (Donovan Mitchell) for Frank Ntilikina, but bypassing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is more egregious.
“First of all, Knox and Gilgeous-Alexander went to the same school (Kentucky), so Scott Perry and Steve Mills must have been watching these two players on the same scouting tapes and concluded, ‘You know what, that Kevin Knox will be a better NBA player.'”
Granted, the Knicks are doing just fine most nights and have a heck of a guard themselves in Jalen Brunson. But you can’t help but wonder what would have transpired — and what the future might look like — if they had picked Gilgeous-Alexander.
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