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.

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.

23-year old rookie center Jerome Jordan will be acquired by the Knicks on July 8th. He was the 44th overall pick of the NBA Draft. Jordan played in 35 games (all starts) for Tulsa last season and he averaged 15.4 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.3 blocked shots per game. He played in 133 games (119 starts) in college and he averaged 11.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 2.5 blocked shots per game. This has the potential to be a nice pickup for the Knicks.

The Knicks have picked 22-year old small forward Landry Fields with the 39th overall pick of the NBA Draft. Fields played in 32 games for Stanford last season and he averaged 22.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He played in 129 games in his college career and he averaged 10.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 0.8 steals per game. Fields might get a shot for a lot of P.T. as a rookie for the Knicks as he is a improving basketball player.

The New York Knicks have picked 23-year old shooting guard Andy Rautins with the 38th overall pick of the NBA Draft. Rautins played in 35 games (all starts) for the Syracuse Orange last season and he averaged 12.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.0 steals per game. He played in 127 games (65 starts) in his career at Syracuse and he averaged 8.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Rautins is a sharp shooter and the Knicks will likely use him a lot of the bench for that purpose. He also plays all out, all of the time and that’s the kind of guy the Knicks need.

The Knicks have only four players under contract for 2010-11 (Toney Douglas, Bill Walker, Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari) heading into tomorrow night’s NBA Draft. The Knicks will pick #38 and #39 tomorrow night so don’t expect them to add any game changers. That is unless they trade one of the remaining four players on the roster tomorrow night. The Knicks clearly have their eyes set on July 1st when free agency opens. So while it’s a big night for the league tomorrow it likely won’t be as special to the Knicks.

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.

The Knicks were roundly booed at Madison Square Garden when the pick of Danilo Gallinari was announced to the crowd. Gallinari is a young guy at 19 years old but new coach Mike D’Antoni likes his game which is all that seemed to count to the Knicks’ front office. Gallinari has played in 118 games (86 starts) in his pro career in the Italian League and he has averaged 12.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game. It will be interesting to see how well that Gallinari’s game projects to the NBA. This was a very risky pick for the Knicks.