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Just when Knicks fans nothing could top the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft, which saw the front office trade two first-round picks for a future first, a future second, and the No. 25 pick (Quentin Grimes), Leon Rose and gang got the second round to a wild start with more wheeling and dealing.
Several quality guards, including Jared Butler, Sharife Cooper and Miles McBride, were still on the board when the Knicks were set to pick at No. 32. But that’s rarely how Rose’s crew operates.
Oklahoma City has acquired No. 32 from the Knicks for Nos. 34 and 36, source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 30, 2021
That’s right: New York traded all three of the first three picks they had at the beginning of the draft. And they even got extra picks from the pick-hoarder extraordinaire, OKC’s Sam Presti.
After the dust settled, this move appeared to be a masterstroke. The next two teams selected bigs, which left the same lineup of talented guards available at 34. And the Knicks selected...none of them.
The Knicks are selecting Rokas Jokubaitis at No. 34, per source.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 30, 2021
Rokas Jokubaitis is a 20-year-old Lithuanian guard who is a probably draft-and-stash prospect for New York. We’ll have more on him tomorrow, I promise.
The Knicks stepped up again one pick later with Cooper, Butler and McBride still on the board. This time, they took McBride, the guard from West Virginia. Our own Professor Miranda profiled McBride recently. We at P&T are huge fans of McBride, as is Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, who allegedly pushed the front office to draft the young guard.
The Knicks still have one more pick left tonight, at No. 58. God only knows what they’ll do with that.