The NBA held its draft lottery on Tuesday night and it was an unusual one for Knicks fans.
There was no shot of Allan Houston sitting in a weird TV studio with a forced smile nor was there an executive from another team sitting there with an extra pick thanks to a regrettable trade. That role was played by the Clippers, who watched their number come up for the top pick only to see the Cavs celebrate the good fortune.
The appearance of the lottery did get us thinking about who the Knicks might draft next month. It also got us thinking about just when the team might see fit to confirm Donnie Walsh's return to the team.
We've got no clue on the second question, so we'll just keep assuming that no news is good news on that front.
As to the draft, the general consensus is that the Knicks need to take either a point guard or a forward capable of giving some help on defense and the boards.
Tom Ziller of SBNation sends forward Markieff Morris of Kansas to the Knicks, but he's less appealing than Draft Express's choice of Kenneth Faried of Morehead State. He's undersized, but a rebounding virtuoso whose energy would be a welcome addition to the frontline.
CBSSports.com goes with another defensive-minded forward, Chris Singleton of Florida State, while Sam Amick of SI.com plays contrarian to select Texas small forward Jordan Hamilton.
Local
A couple of mock drafts have the Knicks taking Darius Morris of Michigan, but a point guard who can't shoot from the outside seems like a poor fit for the current roster. Chad Ford of ESPN.com throws an intriguing name into the mix with Josh Selby of Kansas.
Selby came to Lawrence with tons of hype and leaves after one disappointing year that saw him fail to mesh with Bill Self or his teammates. He's still got the talent that left everyone drooling, but selecting him would definitely be a swing for the fences by Walsh and the Knicks.
That's a swing they opted not to take two years ago when they passed on Brandon Jennings, Jrue Holliday and other point guards so they could grab Jordan Hill. Hill was a safer choice that seemed like it would give the Knicks something helpful, but the failure to grab a difference maker is something that has hurt the team for the last two seasons.
Walsh has made some fine picks since joining the Knicks, so it isn't like we're slamming the man's entire body of work. It's just that the work he's done to this point kinda reminds us of the current budget debates going on in Washington D.C.
In politics, everyone is fond of coming up with the easy answer to dealing with the deficit and the sluggish economy. One side says cut spending and the other side says raise taxes (an oversimplification, but just accept it for these purposes) but neither side actually has anything to say about growing the economy.
Walsh did the easy part by getting rid of the bloated salaries and dragging the team into reasonable financial waters. The hard part is actually building the team that is going to do more than get swept out of the first round of the playoffs.
Whether you're in Congress or the NBA, you can't do the hard part by playing it safe. That's a recipe for more of the same and neither kitchen can afford that much longer.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City. You can follow him on Twitter and he is also a contributor to Pro Football Talk.
