How Leon Rose’s Draft Patience Helped Knicks

If patience is a virtue, the New York Knicks are among the NBA’s best-behaved.

The Knicks’ wheeling and dealing of veteran talents has built one of the NBA’s most intriguing and sustainable contenders.

Since president Leon Rose arrived in 2020, the Knicks have added Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo off the free agent ledger while landing OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart in trades. There’s a noticeable lack of first-round talents, as last spring’s 13-game playoff run featured no homegrown first-round picks, but Rose and Co. have stockpiled first-round picks through various deals.

That strategy was lauded by ESPN NBA insider and transaction expert Adrian Wojnarowski during a guest appearance on the Worldwide Leader-produced broadcast of the Knicks’ Summer League game against the Charlotte Hornets’ prospects.

“One thing the Knicks did a really good job was hoarding all their draft picks,” Wojnarowski told raconteurs Marc Kestecher and Tim Legler. “Gathering lots of picks and deals, they used, what, five of them in the trade with Brooklyn to get Bridges but they still have at least four first-round picks. So they have picks to put in another potential deal … If another big star becomes available, if they decide they want to go after, they can be in that game.”

That and Jalen Brunson’s financial sacrifice on a newly-acquired contract extension has allowed the Knicks further “flexibility” as they seek to build on their most successful season in over a decade.

Rose and his front office team acquired four prospects at the 2024 draft after more or less sitting out the last two. For example, they’re officially credited with choosing Ousmane Dieng with the 11th pick in 2022 but traded him to Oklahoma City for further picks as well as cash relief for the anticipated signing of Jalen Brunson. New York stayed off the board entirely in 2023, having traded its first-round pick to Portland to land Josh Hart.

The Knicks faced some criticism for keeping their picks away from high-profile trade candidates, such as former Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell, whose services eventually convinced the Cleveland Cavaliers to send away most of their future to Salt Lake City.

This time around, the Knicks had two first-round picks to work with after the yields of 2019’s Kristaps Porrzingis trade sent Dallas’ first-round pick East. New York wound up dealing one away and used the 25th choice on French prospect Pacome Dadiet, who made his unofficial debut for New York on Saturday in Las Vegas.

As Wojnarowski mentioned, the Knicks now have four potential first-round choices in 2025: in addition to their own, they have choices gleaned from Milwaukee, Washington, and Detroit, which carry potections in the top 4, 10, and 13 respectively. Time will tell which land in New York’s possession … or which are dealt for further assets.

The current Knicks prospects return to action on Tuesday when they face those of the Brooklyn Nets (4:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV).

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