The New York Knicks made two trades in the NBA Draft night, and fans Stephen A. Smith and Spike Lee went through all of the emotions.
It is the NBA Draft, which means that New York Knicks fans are bracing themselves for disappointment. But the Knicks decided that this year, they sent the fanbase through a rollercoaster of emotions, as they made multiple trades, giving them hope that it was for a big splash move.
Instead, the Knicks did not end up with a single player in the first-round of the NBA Draft as of this writing.
Knicks fan and ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith sent out a video of himself holding his head and having to be comforted by film director Spike Lee. The caption simply read “pain.”
It stemmed from the Washington Wizards selecting Wisconsin guard Johnny Davis with the No. 10 pick, who Smith wanted the Knicks to draft. Then take a listen to Smith’s reaction to the team initially selecting Ousmane Dieng out of France with the No. 11 pick.
Knicks bring ‘pain’ to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith in the NBA Draft
Throughout the night, the Knicks were reportedly making persistent calls to the Detroit Pistons about Jaden Ivey, who they selected with the fifth-overall pick. New York selected Dieng with the No. 11 pick, only to trade him to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for multiple first-round picks.
At one point, Stephen A. Smith sat down with Spike Lee to vent his frustrations at yet another Knicks target getting drafted before the team went on the clock.
They also went to drastic measures to try and tempt the NBA gods to help the Knicks.
It was to no avail.
Then, a potential bombshell trade for the Knicks occurred, and the fans were excited. The Knicks acquired Jalen Duren, the No. 13 pick, from the Charlotte Hornets, but then flipped him to the Pistons. This was certainly for Ivey, right? Wrong.
Detroit ended up keeping Ivey, but received Kemba Walker from the Knicks in addition to Duren. So the move ended up being for…more cap space for New York by moving on from Walker. That extra money is specifically being used to make a run at Dallas Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson this offseason, per NBA correspondent Marc Stein.
It’s safe to say that Smith was not the only Knicks fan left holding his head after seeing what the team did during the first-round of the NBA Draft.