Rejoice, Knicks fans: Tuesday's Draft Lottery brings us ever closer to All Picks Day

Good morrow, fellow pilgrims! It is a glorious day, a day to give thanks and praise.

Alas, there are undoubtedly a few deluded souls who will try to convince you that May 17, 2016 is a day for mourning. Do not be led astray by false prophets. Yes, it is true that the Knicks will not be participating in this evening's Draft Lottery. Their pick will go to the Raptors, unless they jump over Denver's pick, in which case the Nuggets will get the pick. It's all very confusing and annoying.

But Lottery Night is also an important milestone in on the way to the most glorious holiday in recent Knicks' history: June 24, 2016, otherwise known as All Picks Day. Once the draft ends, near the stroke of midnight on June 23, the Knicks will have all of their first-round picks for the first time in at least 12 years, probably longer. Many of us never thought we'd live to see that day, and yet the day is nigh.

To my Catholic friends, consider the next few weeks as a kind of draft Lent; to our Muslim brothers and sisters,it can be draft Ramadan -- a time of (pick) fasting and (dumb trade) repentance leading up to the celebration of All Picks Day. It is a time to consider those fans less fortunate than ourselves (Broooooooklyn, stand up!).

We have wandered in the draft pick desert for far too long, but we stand on the edge of the Promised Land. Rejoice!