It is possible that D’Angelo Russell falls to the Knicks in the No. 4 slot in Thursday’s NBA Draft. Karl Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor will almost certainly go 1-2 to the Timberwolves and Lakers. After that comes the Sixers, and while Russell has had strong workouts for them — and they could use a point guard — there is a lot of buzz that GM Sam Hinkie might take promising Euro Kristaps Porzingis.
But are the Knicks looking for a strong point guard since they run the triangle offense? As Phil Jackson has run it, that offense tends to attack out of the wing or post, with the point guard just there as a shooter (think Steve Kerr or Derek Fisher).
Russell thinks he can thrive in the triangle, he told Ian Begley of ESPN.
“Now that I look at it, Kobe had great success in it. The shots that he took, the shots that he made were in the same areas, all from the offense. So I think I can definitely thrive there,” Russell said in a phone interview on Friday.
Maybe he can. Russell can score the rock — 19.3 points a game, shot 41 percent from three last season — but also is a gifted passer with phenomenal court vision. Another reason the Knicks may want him: Phil Jackson likes big guards and at 6’5″ Russell is that.
The question is less fit than if he is on the board at No. 4 when the Knicks pick? There was some buzz Russell doesn’t want to play for the Sixers, but GM Sam Hinkie isn’t about to let that influence his choice. He’s going to take the best player, and if he thinks Porzingis is the best player — although likely three years or so away from maybe reaching that potential — Hinkie will snatch him up (then figure out how to deal with the glut up front later). Or he might trade the pick to a team that covets Porzingas. Or he might take Russell, which is what the fans in Philly want as there is an obvious fit with their young core.
If Russell (and Towns and Okafor) are off the board when then Knicks pick, Phil Jackson becomes the biggest wild card in the deck. He might trade the pick, he might draft Emmanuel Mudiay or Willie Cauley-Stein or Mario Hezonja. It’s going to be interesting.
