After a collection of swaps and a curler coaster by the second spherical, the Knicks completed Thursday by drafting Kansas’s Kevin McCullar Jr. at No. 56 and German Ariel Hukporti at No. 58.
McCullar, a 23-year-old ahead, is the extra acquainted identify after a protracted NCAA profession. He’s thought of robust defensively and a possible glue man, or a Josh Hart lite.
He blossomed as a senior final season with the Jayhawks, averaging 18.3 factors, and may’ve been an All-American if he hadn’t missed the top of the season — and the NCAA Event — with a knee bone bruise.
McCullar, a San Antonio native, additionally performed two seasons at Texas Tech.
The most important concern is offensively and whether or not he’ll be capable of rating sufficient within the NBA to earn a spot on the court docket.
Sadly for McCullar, his choice obtained no airtime on ESPN as a result of it instantly adopted the Lakers taking Bronny James, launching a protracted dialogue on the panel on the high-profile household.
Two picks later, the Knicks took of venture on Hukporti, a 6-foot-11 heart and a product of the extremely acclaimed NBL Subsequent Stars program in Australia.
Hukporti, 22, is a bodily rim runner and rim protector with a excessive motor. He appears to know his function.
“I’m fairly defensive. Working up and down. I’m a tough employee. Defensively, guarding guards on switches and working down the ground and being a lob,” Huporti mentioned after a exercise with the Pacers.
Hukporti tore his Achilles lower than two years in the past and missed the whole 2022-23 marketing campaign in Australia.
He returned to common 7.9 factors and seven.1 rebounds final season.
Earlier within the second spherical, with the thirty fourth choose, the Knicks chosen Marquette level guard Tyler Kolek.
Their alternatives got here from a number of trades that could possibly be finest summed up like this: The Knicks began the second spherical with picks 38 and 51; they ended the draft with picks 36, 56 and 58.
Miles McBride underwent a “process” this week on his pinkie toe, in response to the Knicks, who introduced on X that the guard is “anticipated to renew basketball actions later this summer time.”
McBride elevated into an necessary a part of the Knicks final season whereas averaging 8.3 factors in 68 video games, elevating his 3-point effectivity from underneath 30 % within the earlier season to over 40 %.
It’s unclear if his function modifications a lot with the addition of Mikal Bridges, however McBride proved himself adept at alternating in-and-out of the rotation whereas sustaining a excessive degree of play.
