It was a minor, nothing-for-nothing trade at the time. But it now goes down as another Phil Jackson blunder.
Usually a bonus to finishing with the NBA’s worst record – which the Knicks did for the first time since 1985 – is having the first pick of the second round. Teams treasure that slot more than late first-round picks because of its economics.
However, that 31st pick was traded a long time ago — at the end of Jackson’s first training camp as Knicks president.