Knicks Links: Who’s ready for the Draft Lottery?

I’m going to teach all of you a little yoga today.

Take a deep breath in for 3-5 seconds, counting as you inhale. Now exhale slowly, taking twice as long as your inhale.

Now repeat that continuously until tonight at 8:00 p.m.

That’s right, tonight is that magical day that (usually) comes around bi-annually for Knicks fans — the NBA Draft Lottery! Before we dive into music and links, here’s a super quick primer on the Knicks’ situation going into tonight:

— The Knicks lost a mini-lottery to the Timberwolves last month to settle a tie for sixth place in the lottery. Therefore, the Knicks inherited the back-end odds for the seventh pick in the draft, and split the sixth/seventh spot odds for a top-three pick with the Wolves.

— The Knicks can only walk away from tonight in one of seven different spots — either pick No. 1-3, or pick No. 7-10.

— The odds are as follows for the Knicks: No. 1 = 5.3% chance, No. 2 = 6.03%, No. 3 = 6.98%, No. 7 = 57.24%, No. 8 = 22.65%, No. 9 = 1.78% and No. 10 = .03%.

— The only way the Knicks move down is if a team below them moves into the top three.

Now you’re ready for the Draft Lottery. Keep doing those breathing exercises, and listen to this song:

Apparently that’s the most relaxing song ever, because science.

Now take another deep breath, and dive into some links

— I’m actually going to lead with something not related to the lotto, because it was a really interesting read about something I wasn’t terribly familiar with (I was 7 years old at the time): The Ringer put together a great oral history of the Knicks-Heat brawl in the 1997 Eastern Conference Semifinals. My favorite passage:

Van Gundy: [Ward is] also the quietest guy. He sat behind me on the bus for, what, our maybe our 10 years, maybe, together in New York, and probably said, like, a total of 100 words. Charlie was a devout Christian and during the game he was going to try to cut your nuts off to win, and then pray for you afterwards.

— Steve Popper of the Bergen Record refreshes your memory about the Knicks’ past lottery experiences, in case you’re into that sort of self mutilation. He also wrote a little diddy about the Knicks hoping to move up in the lottery for the first time since the first time.

— Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News gives a little explanation of the odds and potential outcomes of the lotto for the Knicks.

— Marc Berman of the NY Post has been a busy man. First, he speculates which players the Knicks might be high and low on in the Draft (Lonzo Ball over Markelle Fultz though?! C’mon Marc).

Next, he speculates about how one bounce of a ping-pong ball could greatly affect the Knicks one way or another tonight.

And, not completely in regard to the Knicks but loosely so, he writes about how LaVar Ball’s influence could help or hurt Lonzo Ball, and about how Queens product Hamidou Diallo could potentially hop into the lottery without ever playing a game in college.

— Contrary to Berman’s piece directly above, ESPN’s Chad Ford says the Knicks actually prefer Fultz over Ball (Insider), because the former is a better triangle fit. Hey, whatever helps them get to the conclusion that Fultz > Ball is fine by me.

Landing Fultz or Ball (the Knicks prefer Fultz because of his better fit with the triangle) would immediately change the whole narrative in New York.

— Similar to the above writers, ESPN’s Ian Begley gives a pre-lotto Knicks primer.

— Mike Woodson alert! The former Knicks coach was interviewed by TMZ Sports and said Melo was “great for me” here in New York, and “I love Carmelo Anthony.” I mostly just feel for Woody, because it seems like the reporter ambushed him at the mall or something. Leave the man to shop for beard lotion in peace!

— Props to commenter Mārtiņš Volfs for this one, here’s Kristaps Porzingis doing a little boxing training with undefeated (22-0) Latvian boxer Mairis Briedis. Should help with his footwork, and looks fun to boot!

— Former Knick Kenyon Martin came out in strong support of Carmelo on ESPN’s The Jump:

— Jalen Rose (for whatever it’s worth) thinks that Melo will still be a Knick come training camp:

— Kyle O’Quinn is out having fun, yamming on kids at the park: