The 2019 NBA Draft Lottery goes Tuesday night with Duke freshman phenom Zion Williamson the apple in the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Phoenix Suns‘ eyes.
All three of those clubs have a 14 per cent chance to land the No. 1 overall pick, who almost assuredly will be Williamson.
But despite Williamson’s generational-looking potential, should the Knicks win the lottery, they’ll reportedly be looking to use their No. 1 pick to do something other than take the high-flying forward.
According to Shams Charania of the The Athletic, New York would use the first-overall selection as a key asset to trade for disgruntled New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis.
“The Knicks getting that No. 1 overall pick impacts the Anthony Davis potential trade talks,” Charania said in a Stadium video segment. “If the Knicks get the No. 1 overall pick, they would then shift their focus towards a potential deal for Anthony Davis in Zion Williamson with the No. 1 overall pick and potentially Kevin Knox. They could pair both of those guys in a trade for Anthony Davis.”
Davis, of course, very publicly requested a trade in the middle of the regular season and has one year left on his deal before he could potentially become an unrestricted free agent.
Knox is a promising rookie who New York took with the ninth-overall pick in last year’s draft.
Charania says this deal would be very possible for the Knicks because of the strength of the No. 1 selection, with Williamson there for the taking, and that New York would be inclined to do this because it would give them a bona fide star already as they begin an off-season free agency pursuit with some of the biggest names in the game available.
“There might not be another team out there who has a better package than the Knicks if they were to get the No. 1 overall pick,” said Charania. “That’s where really the Knicks would shift their focus. That would arm them in free agency with Anthony Davis. All of these star players: Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, the list goes on and on. Most of these guys want to play with other stars, want to play on teams that can compete deep and long in playoff runs.
“That’s exactly what Anthony Davis would give the Knicks. He would give them a guy they could then try to sway Kevin Durant to join that franchise.”
The draft lottery goes Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. ET from Chicago.
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