Knicks have had success with late first-round draft picks in the Leon Rose era

The Knicks have a decision to make with their two first-round picks in the 2024 NBA Draft, and holding Nos. 24 and 25, they could easily decide to package the picks in a deal for a veteran impact player to add to the roster.

Since Leon Rose assumed the role of president of basketball operations, however, the Knicks have shown an ability to identify talent available late in the draft, and their history, particularly at pick No. 25, makes a strong case for the front office to keep at least one of its picks in this year’s upcoming draft.

Should the Knicks keep pick No. 25, it would mark the third time they have acquired a player at this pick in the last five draft classes.

FIRST UP WAS QUICKLEY

The Knicks selected Immanuel Quickley 25th overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, which was Rose’s first at the helm as Knicks president.

The 2020 class was rife with starting-caliber NBA talent, including All-Stars Anthony Edwards (No. 1), LaMelo Ball (No. 3), Tyrese Haliburton (No. 12) and Tyrese Maxey (No. 21), but there’s a strong case for Quickley’s inclusion in the Top 10 of a re-draft of this class.

He assumed sixth man status in New York and averaged 15 points per game off the bench behind Jalen Brunson this season before the Knicks traded him along with RJ Barrett to the Toronto Raptors in the OG Anunoby-Precious Achiuwa deal.

One year after finishing as a Sixth Man of the Year runner-up, Quickley went on to average career-bests 18.6 points and 6.8 assists per game as the full-time starter in Toronto after the trade.

It is rare for teams to find a straight-away starter at pick No. 25.

ANOTHER SUCCESS A YEAR LATER

The Knicks entered the 2021 NBA Draft armed with picks Nos. 19 and 21 but traded No. 19 to the Charlotte Hornets for a future first-round pick, then traded No. 21 (Keon Johnson) to the Los Angeles Clippers for No. 25 (Quentin Grimes) and a coveted second-round pick from the Detroit Pistons.

That pick was later used in the Anunoby deal with the Raptors.

The Knicks also later traded Grimes to the Detroit Pistons as the outgoing highlight of the deal for Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks. They traded Grimes after he earned the starting shooting guard spot, only to lose it a year later to Donte DiVincenzo.

Either way, getting Grimes — a rugged defender and capable three-point shooter — was good value at pick No. 25.

He averaged 11.3 points per game as a 38.6% three-point shooter in Year 2 for the Knicks before he fell out of the rotation in Year 3.

In a re-draft of the 2021 class, Grimes would go Top 20.

THERE ARE ALSO THE 2ND-ROUND PICKS

The Knicks traded away their 2024 second-round pick as part of the series of deals needed to dump Kemba Walker’s salary in a trade with the Detroit Pistons.

They currently own, however, the Utah Jazz second-round pick (pick No. 38) thanks to the Ed Davis trade of 2020.

The Knicks have a pair of second-round picks who played key roles to varying degrees for the team this season.

The Knicks owned pick No. 32 in 2021 and traded back to No. 36, where the Oklahoma City Thunder selected Miles McBride. The Knicks signed McBride to a three-year, $13 million contract extension moments after the Quickley deal with the Raptors, and the third-year guard played key minutes for an injury riddled Knicks team through the second round of the 2024 playoffs.

The Knicks also owned pick No. 58 in the 2021 NBA Draft and selected Jericho Sims, the high-flying center head coach Tom Thibodeau initially tabbed to start at center after Mitchell Robinson’s Dec. 8 stress fracture in his left ankle.

Sims, who showed promise in training camp, had a tweaked ankle end his short-lived stretch as starting center, and Isaiah Hartenstein seized control of the role, but on a Knicks team with three players ahead of him at his position, it’s clear Sims was a great value selection with the third-to-last pick of the 2021 class.

The Knicks could strike gold again. It must be noted the Knicks whiffed on Obi Toppin at No. 8 in 2020, then whiffed again by trading him to the Indiana Pacers for just a pair of second-round picks.

The Toppin pick was only one lowlight in a series of successful draft nights for a front office to make another pick, or strike another deal, to move the Knicks closer to their ultimate goal of bringing a championship to New York City.