GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- It’s hard to overstate how important player development is to the New York Knicks right now.
The club is in the early stages of a rebuild, looking for talented players to fit around Kristaps Porzingis while the star forward works his way back from a torn ACL.
In the best-case scenario, the Knicks build a young core around Porzingis that’s strong enough to attract free agents in the summer of 2019 or 2020, when they should have significant cap space.
New York has the wherewithal to add this young talent: They own all of their first-round picks going forward and likely will have top-10 picks in the next two drafts.