RealGM

I posted this article in the draft thread . . . which is 50 pages long, so I thought I'd repost it here, as a rare year when the Ewing Knicks had 3 draft picks and they were hoping to load up on talent.

96-97 was also the year they had cap space, because Ewing was a free agent and they were able to sign Allan Houston, Chris Childs & Trade for Larry Johnson before resigning Ewing. I think the NBA closed that loophole . . . not sure), but there was a lot of hope going into that season. They also had 3 first round picks that year. #18, #19 and #21.

Article (I thought it was a good read): https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/what-misjudging-the-1996-draft-reminds-us-about-the-knicks-hopes-for-this-year/ar-BB1oWmni?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ACTS&cvid=eb59db577cf04aada893b7a4b2f48ebe&ei=14

and the 1996 draft.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1996.html

Imagine if Jermaine O'Neal had fallen to them at 18 instead of John Wallace, or Peja or Steve Nash . . . but it wasn't to be. Most of the teams ahead of them drafted well and the Knicks got John Wallace, who fell to 18 and never amounted to much.

Imagine if they'd taken Derek Fisher at 21. They could have used a PG, or the Junk Yard Dog, Jerome Williams, who they eventually traded for at the tail end of his career. He was a Knicks style player.

or even Zydrunas Ilgauskas* (copy/paste), who would have given them the best back up center in the league and allowed Ewing to rest a bit.

They took 3 swings that draft and missed all 3, though McCarty turned into a serviceable 7th man, he wasn't much. What almost could have been. That's an interesting year to look back on.

oh, and, in hindsight, Tim Hardaway, not Chris Childs. That would have been the move to make. It would have been a trade, not a signing, but they had the cap space to make it work, and 3 draft picks. Not sure which players GS would have asked for in return, but . . . oh well. Hindsight is 20/20.

That must have been post Bird rights but pre cap holds.

I was backstage in the tunnels of Brendan Byrne for this draft, and let me tell you the level of excitement/ anticipation that built each pick Wallace fell, followed by one of the most euphoric crowd pops I've ever heard when the Knicks took him, was one of the most memorable sports experiences of my life. Sucks it didn't work out, but what a great, great moment.

Edit: I think somewhere around 12 or 13 the crowd began exploding at every pick when Stern announced it and it WASN'T Wallace (because they wanted him to fall to the Knicks). So there were a whole bunch of guys who got cheering at about 100x what they were expecting.

SelbyCobra wrote:I was backstage in the tunnels of Brendan Byrne for this draft, and let me tell you the level of excitement/ anticipation that built each pick Wallace fell, followed by one of the most euphoric crowd pops I've ever heard when the Knicks took him, was one of the most memorable sports experiences of my life. Sucks it didn't work out, but what a great, great moment.

Edit: I think somewhere around 12 or 13 the crowd began exploding at every pick when Stern announced it and it WASN'T Wallace (because they wanted him to fall to the Knicks). So there were a whole bunch of guys who got cheering at about 100x what they were expecting.

That's a cool story. Nice bit of history.

1996 was after the internet, but before message boards were a thing. There was usenet (I think that's what it was called) - hehe, who remembers that. Basketball message boards didn't really get going until 99 or so.

I didn't follow the draft at the time, and I first heard about their "great picks" on WFAN sports talk radio that night. The announcer (I don't remember who it was), was saying that McCarty & Wallace could start for the Knicks. I thought he was crazy since they had Oak and (at the time) Mason, but WFAN was talking those guys up something fierce that night and I was pretty psyched to see the kids play.

If only Leon Rose was involved in this draft. We would have had 14 future 2nd round picks to work with