Loss to Milwaukee Proves One Point: Knicks Must Draft a Ball Handler in 2012

The New York Knicks’ front office must’ve had to swallow a big pill to get any sleep after the knickerbockers were lit up by rising star Brandon Jennings, who the Knicks passed up in the 2009 draft for Jordan Hill. Jennings strolled into Madison Square Garden and dropped 36 points, 5 assists and 2 rebounds leading the Milwaukee Bucks to a 100-86 win and deepening the Knicks’ losing streak to five straight.

During the preseason Knicks fans touted that they had the best front line in the NBA. But at 6-9 the Knickerbockers have proved that a front line means nothing without a point guard to run the show.

And with over $50,000,000 tied up in the front court the Knicks have two options: pray that Baron Davis comes back healthy and ready to play or rely on their draft picks.

The issue with Davis is that the team simply does not know what he will be when he comes back and if he’s even 80% of what he was in Cleveland; the Knicks will once again have to go through another transition period.

So until then the team’s fate relies in the hands of shooting guards, two to be exact: Toney Douglas and Iman Shumpert. Two young players who were previously foreign to the point position prior to their NBA careers.

It has taken two years and a ton of turnovers to prove to D’Antoni that Douglas was not the man for the job, leading the Knicks to differ to rookie Iman Shumpert.

Shumpert has already received the royal treatment at the Garden, as fans scream his name for his ability to shoot the three. But like Douglas, he is not a natural point guard and while he is currently averaging a respectable 3.3 assists per game, he is neither the leading distributor (Carmelo Anthony, 4.1 assists per game) nor the answer at the point.

So what does all this accumulate to? One thing, no matter the outcome of this season, even the possibility of Davis’ healthy return, the Knicks must take a top flight point guard in the 2012 NBA draft.

Sources:
New York Knicks Website
Yahoo! Sports


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