It may say that the Los Angeles Lakers selected Florida State guard Toney Douglas with the 29th pick of the first round, but he's going to be playing on the other coast. The Knicks sent $3 million and a future second round pick to the NBA champs for the pick.
Douglas isn't the point guard the Knicks were thought to be targeting in the draft, but he's coming off a fine career with the Seminoles. He's a deadeye shooter who averaged 21.5 points per game during his senior season, but doesn't have the size to play a straight two-guard in the NBA. He could wind up being a nice replacement for Nate Robinson as a combo guard off the bench, especially since he's a better defensive player.
The Knicks also wound up with the second overall pick in the draft. The 2003 draft, that is. The Knicks traded Quentin Richardson to Memphis for Darko Milicic, the man immortalized by Joe Dumars' boneheaded decision to select him ahead of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. The move clears up the glut of small forwards in New York, and, like more than one other coach, Mike D'Antoni may be fascinated by the chance to work with the man whose name launched the finest basketball website in the universe.
Douglas and Milicic team with Jordan Hill to make three new additions for Mike D'Antoni to work with this summer, and there are sure to be other changes to the roster in the days to come.
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.
