Cole Anthony could be a pleasant surprise in the NBA with the Knicks. To understand why, you have to look back at Cole’s father, Greg, and his time here. To understand that, you have to go back four years before Greg was brought to New York.
In 1987 the Knicks drafted Mark Jackson, who’d win Rookie of the Year. In 1988 the Knicks drafted Rod Strickland, another point guard, natch. Oddly enough, having a promising 24- and 23-year-old both wanting playing time at the same position wasn’t the best idea; the Knicks compounded their error of redundancy by downgrading from Strickland to Maurice Cheeks, who was a few years away from retiring.