While the NFL Draft is just hours from starting, the NBA player selection ceremony is less than two months away as well.
With the Knicks likely to the have the top pick — ESPN Insider Chad Ford, Karl Anthony-Towns is currently the Knicks’ top choice if they wind up with the No. 1 pick.
New York ranks Towns at No. 1 on its draft board, followed by Okafor, Mudiay, Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell and Duke’s Justise Winslow, sources inside the organization told Ford.
The Knicks will find out exactly where they pick on May 19 when the NBA holds its draft lottery. New York has a 19.9 percent chance of landing the top pick, a 38.7 percent chance of landing a top-two pick and an 87.7 percent chance of landing a top-four pick.
The Knicks, who finished with the second-worst record in the NBA, are guaranteed to pick no lower than fifth in the draft.
Phil Jackson has said he would likely keep their pick if it fell within the top-four, but would consider dealing their pick if it fell to fifth. Of course, Jackson could change his thinking between now and draft night. League sources with knowledge of the Knicks’ thinking said last month that the team would be very open to trading the pick if it fell outside the top two.