Phil Jackson covets Kentucky big man Karl Anthony-Towns, but according to the New York Daily News, another UK big may make more sense for the Knicks at No. 4.
While Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein have garnered the most attention, the Knicks for months have been enamored with Trey Lyles, according to a team source. Lyles is a 6-foot-10 forward out of Indianapolis who Phil Jackson sees as a good fit for the triangle offense.
Would the Knicks select Lyles with the fourth overall pick? Crazier things have happened and if Jackson truly believes Lyles, the 2014 Indiana Mr. Basketball who was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and has played internationally for the U.S. and Canada, is worth it, perhaps he’ll make the move. A more plausible scenario would be for the Knicks to trade down, since most draft experts don’t see him as a top 10 pick.
According to Frank Isola, the Lakers will dictate a lot of the fallout surrounding picks 3-7, based off of what they do at No. 2.
The X-factor is what the Los Angeles Lakers do or don’t do with the second pick. There is already talk of Jackson’s former club considering Ohio State guard D’Angelo Russell which would leave Duke’s Jahlil Okafor available to Sixers at No. 3. Philadelphia already has a Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid on its roster and could potentially use the pick in a trade or pass on Okafor. In that case, the Knicks would select Okafor, thus erasing the pain of falling from two to four at the Draft Lottery.
But if Towns, Russell and Okafor are off the board, Jackson will have a tough choice to make. Point guard Emmanuel Mudiay may seem like the logical pick, but Jackson’s teams historically never feature a top point guard. And with Jose Calderon already under contract and the Knicks convinced that Langston Galloway can be a contributing player on a good team, Jackson may ignore Mudiay, who spent last season in China.