The New York Knicks bought 22-year old center Josh Harrellson from the New Orleans Hornets.  The Hornets picked the 6’10″, 275 pound center Josh Harrellson out of Kentucky with the #45 overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.  Harrellson played in 38 games for Kentucky last year and he averaged 28.5 minutes, 7.6 points 8.7 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game.  He played in 94 games in his three years in college and he averaged 15.8 minutes, 4.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 0.9 blocked shots per game.  While Harrellson isn’t a big time prospect, he will still give the Knicks a big body off the bench.  So I like this deal for the Knicks.

The Knicks picked 21-year old, 6’5″, 212 pound shooting guard Iman Shumpert with the 17th overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft.  Shumpert played in 31 games at Georgia Tech last year and he averged 32.0 minutes, 17.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.7 steals per game.  Shumpert played in 92 games in his 3 years in college and he averaged 31.3 minutes, 12.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.3 steals per game.  Shumpert only shot 39.6% from the floor in college, so the Knicks picked him for his defense.

28-year old PF/C Ronny Turiaf has exercised his player option to return to the Knicks in 2011-12 worth $4.36 million bucks.  Turiaf wasn’t likely going to get anywhere near that kind of money on the open market, so it was smart for him to return to the Knicks.  Turiaf played in 64 games (21 starts) for the Knicks last year and he averaged 17.8 minutes, 4.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game.  Turiaf has now played in 358 games (90 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 17.9 minutes, 5.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game.  Turiaf will provide the Knicks with defense and rebounding off the bench next year.

The Knicks really need a center but they won’t find one worth taking with the #17 overall pick.  They have expressed that they are not pleased with Landry Fields as a starting shooting guard.  That means they will likely consider Josh Selby, Marshon Brooks, Travis Leslie and Malcolm Lee with their only pick.  The Knicks might reach a bit for center Nikola Vucevic if he’s available with the #17 pick.

The New York Knicks have 7 free agents coming into this summer but none of them are high impact players.  C/PF Ronny Turiaf has a player option for the 2011-12 season and I expect him to pick it up and return to the Knicks for the 2011-12 season.  SF/PF Jared Jeffries is a Mike D’Antoni favorite, so I could see the Knicks working out a deal with him to return for 2011-12.  F/C Shelden Williams and SF Shawne Williams both flashed some talent last year but I think the Knicks will want to go in a different direction.  SG Roger Mason is as good as gone.  PG Anthony Carter might come back on a small deal with the Knicks to be the #3 PG.  Forward Derrick Brown is a restricted free agent but I don’t think he’ll be getting many offers, so he could return to the Knicks next year.