D'Antoni Discusses the Draft Lottery Choose the 'What's New' section

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May 20, 2008

On Tuesday night in Secaucus, N.J., the Knicks learned their NBA Draft Lottery fate, which will see New York make its highest draft pick in 22 years.

The Chicago Bulls won the overall lottery, but the Knicks can look forward to choosing sixth at the June 26 draft. That will mark the highest Knicks selection since the team chose Kenny "Sky" Walker with the fifth overall pick in 1986.

Chicago, which displaced all seeded teams above it by one draft position, had its ping-pong ball come up first in the selection process held shortly before the picks were announced to the public. The Miami Heat, who entered the lottery with the highest likelihood of winning, will choose second, and the Minnesota Timberwolves will pick third.

The 2008 NBA Draft features one of the deepest and most highly anticipated classes in quite some time. Dominated mainly by sensational freshmen and sophomores, it is a very athletic crop that fits perfectly into the up-tempo style that new Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni made famous in Phoenix before coming to New York on May 13.

D'Antoni, a former NBA Coach of the Year, represented the Knicks at the lottery, where New York had 7.6-percent chance of landing the top slot. Also in attendance representing other teams was Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat, Rookie of the Year Kevin Durant of the Seattle Supersonics, part owner of the New Jersey Nets Jay-Z and NBA legend Larry Bird, the Indiana Pacers' President of Basketball Operations.

One of the biggest stories at Tuesday night's lottery was the presence of Margie Parilo, a Sacramento Kings season ticker holder who had won a contest for the right to represent her favorite team on national TV.

The Knicks have picked sixth only one other time in franchise history, when they selected Trent Tucker out of Minnesota in 1982. A 6-foot-5, 200-pound guard, Tucker averaged 8.6 points per game and shot 40.9-percent from behind the arc over nine seasons in New York, including a standout 1986-87 campaign when he averaged 11.4 points per contest.

Since the dawn of the lottery era in 1985, the sixth slot has often been a gold mine. Players such as All Stars Brandon Roy (chosen by Portland in 2006), Wally Szczerbiak (chosen by Minnesota in 1999), and Antoine Walker (chosen by Boston in 1996) were all taken at the No. 6 position

Before the lottery first took effect, Pick No. 6 produced one of the all-time greats in 1978, when the Boston Celtics selected three-time league MVP Bird. Adrian Dantley, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this fall, was also chosen sixth overall back in 1976.

Most recently, the Milwaukee Bucks selected Yi Jianlian at the No. 6 spot last June. Jianlian had an immediate impact his rookie year, averaging 8.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in 66 games, despite coming out of a draft class that was not considered nearly as deep as this year's group of potential picks.