Article from fansided.com
The 2009 NBA Draft was supposed to be the beginning of a new era of sorts for the New York Knicks. Gone was head coach/GM/Team President Isiah Thomas — Donnie Walsh and in turn, Mike D’Antoni had arrived, and after purging the roster of Jamal Crawford, Zach Randolph, Tim Thomas, and Stephon Marbury, it was time for the Knicks to begin the long road back to relevance.
With D’Antoni at the helm, many thought the Knicks would use the draft to find his next Steve Nash. The 2009 draft was oddly awash with first-round talent at the point guard position, and with the Knicks picking 8th that year, the Knicks seemed destined to end up with a Steph Curry, Ricky Rubio or Tyreke Evans, or at a minimum a Jrue Holiday, Ty Lawson, Eric Maynor or Jeff Teague, if they found a way to acquire a later pick.
The benefit of hindsight makes Curry the obvious choice here (alas, the Warriors picked him just one spot ahead of the Knicks), with his sweet stroke and the improved distribution skills he showed off in his final year at Davidson on paper, Curry would have been the perfect fit for a Mike D’Antoni offense (plus, under D’Antoni, his defensive shortcomings would never be an issue). But in spirit, no point guard appeared more Knick-ian than Brandon Jennings.
With a game equal parts playground and prep-school, Jennings seemed destined to return the archetype to the vaunted status it once held, giving the city it’s first dominant point guard since Mark Jackson was traded away in 1992. But alas, with Jennings still on the board, the Knicks instead took Jordan Hill (who they would later trade for Tracy McGrady in the next season), and Jennings fell to the 10th pick, where he was selected by the Bucks.
After passing on Jennings, the Knicks were never really able to find their long-term solution at point guard, trotting out both veterans like Chauncey Billups, Mike Bibby and Jason Kidd, and young guys like Toney Douglas, Jeremy Lin and Shane Larkin. But now, five losing seasons, three head coaches, and two general managers later, the Knicks have righted their wrong. The Knicks have finally found their point guard.
Let’s be honest for a second here, save for a 55-point game here, and a triple-double there, Jennings wasn’t always the platonic ideal of a point guard that I’ve made him out to be here. He made the playoffs once in Milwaukee before being quickly shipped out to Detroit, and the first year and a half of his stint with the Pistons was largely forgettable. But then, halfway through the 2014-15 season, the Pistons waived Josh Smith, and over the next 16 games Jennings began to realize his potential as a top-flight floor general.
Smith’s departure allowed the entire Pistons roster to play with a newfound confidence, but no one improved more than Jennings, who finally began to resemble the unstoppable force he was during his senior season at Oak Hill Academy. Jennings lead the Pistons to a 12-4 record over that period, including impressive wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, and Atlanta Hawks, twice. Averaging 20 points and 7 assists during that period, Jennings was well on his way to winning that year’s Most Improved Player award, but then the rug was pulled out from under him. In a game against the Milwaukee Bucks, the franchise that drafted him, he ruptured his achilles tendon, ending his season.
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