Analyst Questions Knicks Draft Decision

The New York Knicks have had a transformative year, one in which they became much closer to contending for a championship.

They were aggressive on the trade market, acquiring Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges during the summer, but they didn’t have that same mindset during the 2024 NBA Draft.

Bleacher Report writer Zach Buckley criticized the Knicks’ decision to take a project in Pacome Dadiet in the first round instead of someone who was more capable of helping sooner.

“They entered with two first-round picks (Nos. 24 and 25), traded one away and spent the other on a long-term-project prospect in Pacome Dadiet, who could be years away from logging significant minutes on a good team,” Buckley writes.

“There were plug-and-play options on the board—Ryan Dunn waves hello—but New York bet big on upside. That’s fine in a vacuum, but it’s not as great when it was the one deviation from the win-right-now principle that guided the rest of the Knicks’ offseason.”

While the Knicks could have had a different approach for the draft, it did align with coach Tom Thibodeau and his philosophy on rookies. Thibodeau is notorious for smaller rotations and not giving rookies much playing time, so taking a more experienced collegiate player like Dunn could have been a desired move, but it wouldn’t have made much sense given the coach.

Even though Dadiet hasn’t done much in his first season in the NBA averaging 1.6 points per game in just 12 appearances so far with the Knicks, he is developing in the G League in hopes of becoming a strong player in the league someday down the line.

The Knicks are back in action tomorrow night as they take on the Utah Jazz at Madison Square Garden. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.

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