"What If...": Draft Edition

We look at how history might be different if a few drafts went a different way.

Good morning! I hope everyone enjoyed the return of “What If…” a few weeks ago, because we have another one on the docket today, this time with a choose-your-own-adventure vibe.

"What If...": Draft Edition

Today’s loaded question comes to us from Earnest Monk:

The last time I asked a “What If?” it was “What if Bernard King stayed healthy and was able to play with Ewing?” and your response was great! My next “What If?” question is regarding our questionable past draft misses…

How would it have would have affected our current situation - draft capital, current players, front office positions, the head coach, etc - if the following players had been taken instead of the ones actually drafted:

• 2009 Draft: We moved up and picked Steph Curry instead of Jordan Hill (or stayed put and took DeMar Derozan or Jrue Holiday)

• 2011 Draft: Jimmy Butler over Iman Shumpert

• 2017 Draft: Donovan Mitchell instead of Frank

• 2018 Draft: SGA (or Mikal or MPJ) instead of Knox

Thoughts?

I could write a book on these four collectively, so answering them in the space of one newsletter may prove to be a bit of a challenge. I’ll do my best.

Let’s start with Curry.

This is, by far, the most unrealistic scenario, because the reporting suggests that Golden State was never going to trade out of the seventh spot once Curry fell to them on draft night. There was simply nothing the Knicks could do, and for all the times we can blame their various front offices for failing us, not ending up with Curry in 2009 isn’t one of them.

That said, let’s have some fun.