The New York Knicks will enter the 2017 NBA Draft with a first-round selection for just the second time during Phil Jackson’s four years as team president. The previous regimes traded the 2014 first-rounder for Carmelo Anthony, and the 2016 first-round pick for Andrea Bargnani.
With an unnecessarily rare opportunity on the horizon, Jackson is gathering first-hand knowledge about the top prospects in the 2017 NBA Draft.
Perhaps the most persistent criticism of Jackson’s tenure as team president is that he hasn’t been as publicly involved as some were hoping he’d be. The latest development implies that he’s responding well to the evaluation.