Stephen Curry Really Wants to be a Knick

Guard is doing all he can to sell himself to Knicks

By JOSH ALPER

Updated 9:15 AM EST, Fri, May 29, 2009

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The NBA Draft combine is underway, which means the Knicks are sifting through the players that will potentially be available when they select eighth on June 25th. For quite a while now, Stephen Curry has been at the top of that list, and he's working overtime to let the Knicks know that he'd love to play in New York.

Curry is reading "Seven Seconds or Less," the book about Mike D'Antoni's Phoenix Suns and opining about all the different ways he and the Knicks go together like peanut butter and jelly.

"There's been a lot of talk about New York and that situation being the most ideal now,"' Curry said. "I like the system and the fact they need a point guard who can shoot. D'Antoni likes to get up and down. That's how I played all my life. I can make an open shot. But you got to keep your options open if things don't work out that way."

At this rate it wouldn't be surprising to see Curry showing up with a freshly grown D'Antoni 'stache before his next meeting with the media.

While Curry certainly has the skill set to work in D'Antoni's offense, the strength of the come-on and the persistent stories linking him to the Knicks makes the whole thing feel like misdirection. That would make sense for the Knicks. If they prefer someone else, it makes sense to send out word that Curry is their guy to help ensure their real target makes it to the eighth spot.

For Curry, though, the strategy makes less sense. He's not rated highly enough to throw leverage around in an attempt to choose his own landing spot, nor would it seem to be a smokescreen to try and land somewhere other than New York.

Is he worried he'd drop several spots if the Knicks move in a different direction? The Knicks really do seem like the best fit for his combo-guard package, although there are rumors that Oklahoma City is also taken with his game. The third overall pick seems a bit high for Curry, however, which leaves things in an uncertain place for a guy hoping to go in the lottery.

Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.