This is a Mad-Lib post!

The Knicks just drafted: Iman Shumpert, 6'6" PG/SG out of Georgia Tech

He looks: Not here!

They passed on: Chris Singleton and Marshon Brooks, to name a few.

I feel: Surprised, but kind of pleased, actually.

The crowd's reaction was: Violent.

More later!

Update: 11:14: Also Josh Harrellson from Kentucky. He's tall.

It's time! I'm sittin' here at "The Pru" with my very own media seat and Kawhi Leonard right in front of me giving an interview in a very handsome suit. Comment along if you're not watching. If you're not watching...I don't know what to tell you. The internet here is splendid, so I should be updatin' with news and stuff here and on Twitter.

Draft time! AHHHHHH

Update (1:45): Here's my Knicks draft preview for the New York Magazine Sports Section. It's poorly informed and obsolete at this point, but hey!

Good morning, prospects! It's draft day! The next 24 hours or so will be fraught with rumors, transactions, and colorful hats. It's the best day of the year, probably. I'll put a thread up for the event itself, but in the meantime, this will serve as a hub for updates with links, rumors, and other thoughts leading up to the real deal. Updates will be posted at the top of the page, because this is IMPORTANT, GUYS.

Some stuff to anticipate, if you care:

- I wrote a big-ass Knicks draft preview for the New York Magzeen that will be posted at some point today. It's not really intended for such astute Knick fans as yourself, (I mean that) but I'll post a link when it's up.

- From about 4 PM until 5 PM, I'll be doing a live chat for Knicks Now. I invite you all to come and expose me for my ignorance. (By the way, as I'm writing this, the lead photo on Knicks Now is rather pleasant. I highly recommend visiting.)

- Whenever that ends, I and Mike Levin of Liberty Ballers will embark into the dank New Jersey fog en route to the draft itself. Barring internet troubles, (there are ALWAYS internet troubles at these things) I'll be tweeting and posting things here live from the draft. Mostly tweeting.

That's all for now! Again, updates will go up at the top throughout the day, assuming there will be updates.

Stay hydrated!

The Knicks staged an important albeit short game of 3-on-3 yesterday in Westchester, and both Alan Hahn and Marc Berman followed the event with pretty comprehensive pre-draft pieces. Here's Hahn's and here's Berman's, and here's some stuff I took away from both:

- Trading up, or at least trading actual players to move up, sounds less and less likely. I'm pretty happy to hear that, but it's just Tuesday.

- Nikola Vucevic, who was one of several in for a second workout yesterday, is perhaps the most realistic big man prospect on the board. I've come to like Vucevic and appreciate how he'd fit over the last few days (funny how actually reading about a guy will do that!) and it sounds as if he'll more than likely drop to the Knicks if they sit tight at 17. He's not as frighteningly athletic as some of the other bros, but he's big, can rebound, and has a pretty swanky set of go-to moves on offense. I certainly wouldn't be opposed.

- Darius Morris, according to both Berman and Hahn, is likely New York's favorite of the three point guardish people who were called back yesterday (the other two being Marshon Brooks and Josh Selby). This sort of makes me think that the Knicks want to/ought to just go big with their pick, unless...

- ...that lingering Toney Douglas (and cash) for Omri Casspi rumor amounts to anything. In that case, they'd be in desperate need of another point guard.

The rumor swamp will only get murkier and more difficult to traverse over the next 48 hours, but the fact of the matter remains that we'll emerge with some new toys this week, big or small. Excellent!

Out of context, "Knicks Fancy Bismack Biyombo" sounds like code for something, doesn't it? In this case, it's code for the rumor that the Knicks have quite a bit of interest in Congolese swat-monster Bismack Biyombo. The rumor comes from Jonathan Givony, the internet's lord of the NBA Draft, who twat the following this morning:

Biyombo lands on Sunday in NY. Has a busy schedule ahead of him. Working out for Toronto on Monday. Going to Detroit. Meeting with Knicks.

The Knicks are hoping Biyombo drops to them at 17. That's unlikely, so they're exploring moving up. May have to jump ahead of Warriors at 11

Biyombo is a beguiling prospect. He's a tireless, viscous (yes, VISCOUS) defensive player, but not remotely soft of hand, as was made clear to us in this "hey, let's make Bismack Biyombo do all the things he sucks at and film it and put it on the internet" video from a few days ago. Here's video of Biyombo's conversation with Chad Ford, and here's the interview with Scott Howard-Cooper in which Biyombo declares that he will lead the league in rebounds and blocks. Kinda gives me chills. The guy boasts quite a few of the assets that I find most arousing: defensive focus, a hustler's mentality, limitless chutzpah, a weird accent, and a really fun name. Unfortunately, I'm not the only one with a basketboner.

As Givony explains, the Knicks' chances of drafting Biyombo hinge on either a timely dwindling of his draft stock (especially in the eyes of the Warriors, it seems) or an opportunity for New York to snaggle a lottery pick. Trading up is always a frightening prospect, and with the upcoming spate of workouts, Biyombo's perceived value might be headed in an inauspicious direction. Or maybe he'll find himself totally enamored upon meeting with the Knicks, poop his pants in all the other workouts, and fall to New York at 17. IT COULD HAPPEN.

While I see the value in an additional ballhandler or shooter, the possibility of drafting a big man that can defend and/or rebound is most intriguing to me, offense be damned. Biyombo and, to a lesser extent, Kenneth Faried strike me as excellent candidates to work backboard duty behind Amar'e Stoudemire. (Timeout to giggle at "behind" and "duty"). I'm not as intrigued by a more polished, less bangerific big guy like Donatas Motiejunas, who will also be in town this week. But that's just me.

Biyombo has been analyzed in these parts before, but I'm interested to hear everyone's thoughts with regards to this most recent rumor and with the draft just days away. Just general thoughts, really. About anything. What sort of player would you like, ideally? Which prospect intrigues you the most? What's your favorite melon? Have you ever eaten a canary melon? I ate one of those last night. Are you okay with that?

Today's workout doesn't include any big names, but it does have some of the coolest. Here's the lineup, via Lord Thomas of the House of Dee:

Mustapha Farrakhan, G, 6-4, 181, Virginia, senior

Vlad Moldoveanu, F, 6-9, 215, American, senior

Jared Mintz, F, 6-9, 243, Lafayette, senior

Corey Stokes, G, 6-5, 220, Villanova, senior

Mustapha Farakhan, besides having perhaps the ballerest first name on the planet, is the grandson of Louis Farrakhan. You certainly don't see that every day. The closest the Knicks have gotten to a descendant of a religious leader is Lavor Postell, who was Chuck E. Cheese's nephew. Meanwhile, Vlad Moldoveanu is Romanian, which should be easy to remember because he shares a name with the tallest mountain in Romania. Jared Mintz and I have a mutual friend on Facebook. Corey Stokes is from Bayonne, which means I'd probably refer to him as "Louie Lastik".

And that's who's working out today. There's not a projected draft pick among 'em, but they seem like decent Bayhawk candidates.

Excellent question! I think these links I have to share can help you find some answers. As we learned late in the evening, the Knicks practice facility was populated with both promising draft-eligible youngsters and free agents of all walks of life. Bonzi Wells was in the house! BONZI WELLS! Here are a few articles written about yesterday's workouts:

- Chris Sheridan did speaking to Charles Jenkins, Iman Shumpert, and Chris Singleton, all of whom worked out yesterday.

- Marc Berman and Newsday's Arthur Staple both wrote on the relatively unsung Jenkins, who's the first New York City point guard with serious potential to come around in a while. I'm most interested in whether he'd like to be called "Chuck", "Chaz", or "Charmander".

- TKB has video with Jenkins, so you can be certain that he is a real person (unless, like me, you're wary of Tommy Dee's puppeteering skillz).

- Alan Hahn concentrated mostly on Shumpert.

- Scott Schroeder, ever the authority on fringe NBA talent, has the best list of folks to attend yesterday's "free agent minicamp". Besides Bonzi, here are some names:

Others confirmed to be invited to the workout were guards Jerel McNeal, Will Conroy and Javaris Crittenton along with big men Cedric Simmons, Jeff Foote, Vernon Goodridge, Trent Plaisted, Ivan Johnson and Arinze Onuaku. McNeal, Crittenton, Goodridge, Johnson and Onuaku all played in the D-League last season.

Remember that the Knicks just snaggled the Erie Bayhawks of the D-League. They've got some roster spots to fill. A few of the guys are familiar from past Knick summer leagues, and some you may know from the D-League or brief NBA stints. Some of them are Bonzi Wells.

- Marc Berman wrote an "article" about Crittenton coming to work out, but really it was just a few words to remind you that he once did things with guns.

And that is all! Buy some hats!

New York kept workin' dudes out today, and they've got some more prospects running tomorrow. Via TKB, here's today's list:

Corey Fisher, G, 6-1, 185, Villanova, senior

Andrew Goudelock, G, 6-3, 200, Charleston, senior

Matt Howard, 6-8, 230, Butler, senior

Delroy James, F, 6-8, 220, Rhode Island, senior

Carlton Scott, F, 6-8, 218, Notre Dame, senior

Trey Thompkins, F, 6-10, 245, Georgia, junior

Some familiar names and pubestaches, but mostly Bayhawk fodder. Tomorrow's lineup is a little sexier, if you're sexually aroused by basketball talent. The excellent Peter Casey just twat about it:

Knicks Pre-Draft Workouts for Thursday: Keith Benson, Mike Davis, Charles Jenkins, Iman Shumpert & Chris Singleton.

Singleton's the guy that some mocks have landing with the Knicks at 17. The rest aren't likely to crack the first round, but Shumpert's a ridickaliss athlete, Jenkins is a local friend, and Benson is a tall person of note. It doesn't matter all that much, but that's pretty light competition for Singleton. Davis (tall bloke from Illinois) is the only guy who really matches up, and he's projected to go undrafted. Whatever. Probably not worth reading into.

What y'all know about the folks mentioned above?