The New York Knicks added two key pieces during the 2015 NBA Draft, one in the frontcourt and another in the backcourt, and Derek Fisher is liking how his team is looking going into free agency.
New York grabbed one of the most intriguing prospects in the draft, Latvian big man Kristaps Porzingis with the No. 4 overall pick. Then later in the first round, they acquired No. 19 pick Jerian Grant through a trade that sent Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Atlanta Hawks.
The buzz, however, was all about their top pick and Coach Fish believed adding Porzingis, who brings three years of international experience to the Knicks.
“Finding a big who can defend and help anchor our defense and some things on the back line would’ve been a priority either way,” Fish said. “Having a veteran guy who has done that before and has that resume was a priority for us. “
Porzingis has played in 92 games from 2012-2015 for Spanish clubs Cajasol Sevilla and Baloncesto Sevilla, averaging an impressive 17.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per 36 minutes of action.
Despite all his experience, Porzingis won’t turn 20 until August, leaving him plenty of room to grow and a good bit of time left in the maturation process. That leaves Derek excited to help groom the Latvian prodigy into a star.
“You can’t short cut the work that goes into being a good or great basketball player,” Fish explained. “It sounds cliché, it sounds very simple, but that’s really what it is. Some guys are able to sustain that overtime, and that’s why they’re able to become who they are. You can never decide on draft night that a guy is going to be Dirk Nowitzki or Pau Gasol and become a Hall of Fame player. I don’t know if those guys saw themselves as that, but they obviously made a conscious decision at some point to become that. At some point, Kris will have that same decision.”
The addition of the 7’1”, 233-pound athlete to the roster, the Knicks were able to build on their recent trend of stockpiling players with great physical ability, as well as length and height.
As Derek explained to the media, it all falls in line with the defense-first philosophy that he brought to the team from Day 1—and the strategy of team president Phil Jackson.
“Phil’s teams were always (long and athletic). Unfortunately, he had to deal with me when he got to L.A,” D-Fish joked. “We’re just looking for basketball players. We felt like in the last couple years, we’ve started to add some long athletic guys. As we get familiar with who we are as a team, we can defend better, which will allow us to get out into transition more. That’s really what everybody’s goal is: to get out and score before the defense gets set. We think the length, versatility, and athleticism will help.”
After bringing aboard Porzingis, as well as the Notre Dame star Grant, the Knicks will now look forward to free agency. Fish talked about his squad’s outlook as the offseason rolls along and looks to build around its All-NBA centerpiece, Carmelo Anthony, and he identified more frontcourt help as a priority during this next crucial stage.
“The priorities are still the same: keeping Carmelo and adding some pieces,” Fish says. “We just have some money to spend this year to do that. Now that we’ve gotten the draft over, we can continue to look at the roster and see what we should focus on. I don’t think it’s any secret we need to get some size up front, and I think that’ll be a big focus for us.”