The Knicks have acquired 24-year old PF/C Darko Milicic from the Grizzlies in return for 29-year old SG/SF Quentin Richardson. Milicic is a big guy at 7′0″, 275 pounds and he can run the court which means he could fit in really well in the Knicks’ offensive system. He played in 61 games (15 starts) for the Grizzlies last season and he averaged 17.0 minutes, 5.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. Milicic has now played in 337 games (98 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 17.2 minutes, 5.5 points, 4,0 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. Look for Milicic to have the best year of his career for the Knicks in the 2009-2010 season. Quentin Richardson played in 72 games (51 starts) for the Knicks last season and he averaged 26.3 minutes, 10.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. This could wind up being a trade that’s good for both teams and those are rare in today’s NBA.

The Knicks paid the Lakers $3 million dollars for this pick so Douglas better pan out. The 23-year old Douglas played 4 seasons at Auburn and Florida State appearing in 130 games in which he averaged 16.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Douglas could push Nate Robinson out of the door in New York and that would be a shame for Knicks fans. Still, Douglas is a very polished player who should be ready to produce when the 2009-2010 season starts.

The Knicks selected 22-year old power forward Jordan Hill with the 8th pick in the NBA Draft. The 6′10″, 235 pound Hill played in 97 games in three seasons at Arizona and he averaged 12.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game. Hill never ventures too far from the paint as he made 57.8% of his shots from the floor at Arizona but he only converted 63.6% of his free throws and that will need to improve in the near future or it could cost Hill minutes. If the Knicks drafted Hill to replace David Lee the Knicks are on crack.

Al Harrington, Chris Wilcox and Eddy Curry are all unrestricted free agents. Al Harrington has a player option with the Knicks for the 2009-2010 season and I can’t see any way that he wouldn’t exercise it. He played in 68 games (51 starts) with the Knicks last season and he averaged 20.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Harrington is a very good fit in the Knicks’ wide open offense. Chris Wilcox is a talented player but he might get an opportunity to go to another team who would let him play more. Wilcox played in 25 games (0 starts) for the Knicks last season and he averaged 13.2 minutes, 5.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. The bottom line here with Wilcox is that the Knicks won’t want to commit money to him. Eddy Curry has a early termination option in his contract but there is no way he’s going to leave the Knicks. He played in only 3 games (0 starts) for the Knicks last season and he averaged 4.0 minutes, 1.7 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.

David Lee and Nate Robinson are both restricted free agents. There has been talk of the Knicks possibly trading Lee soon with the idea of freeing up some money to pursue LeBron James next summer. Still, I think that logic is flawed as Lee was outstanding for the Knicks last season. He played in 81 games (74 starts) for the Knicks last season and he averaged 34.9 minutes, 16.0 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Lee would be the hardest player for the Knicks to replace on their roster for the 2009-2010 season, period! Nate Robinson brings instant energy off the bench and it would also be hard to replace him. Robinson played in 74 games (11 starts) for the Knicks last season and he averaged 29.9 minutes, 17.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game. The bottom line is that the Knicks should try to keep both of these guys because there is no guarantee that LeBron James will leave Cleveland to play for the Knicks.