Draft Prospect Emmanuel Mudiay Setups Workout With New York Knicks

USA Today

The New York Knicks were perhaps the biggest losers of the NBA Draft Lottery back on May 19. Despite favorable odds to land one of the top-three picks in the draft on June 25 after an ugly 17-win season, the struggling franchise ended up getting bounced out of the top three and falling to fourth overall.

With the Knicks sitting at number four, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jahlil Okafor, and D’Angelo Russell are likely out of the question. New York was hoping to bring in the next great center in Towns or Okafor, but now they’ll have to go with plan be and as a result Emmanuel Mudiay may be their guy at four.

According to Ian Begley of ESPN, Mudiay has lined up workouts with the top four teams in the upcoming draft:

Point guard Emmanuel Mudiay is scheduled to work out for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers in the weeks leading up to the NBA Draft on June 25, Southern Methodist University coach Larry Brown said.

Although nothing is set in stone at this point, all indications seem to point to the Knicks selecting Mudiay with the fourth overall pick. If Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell somehow gets passed the Philadelphia 76ers with the third pick in the draft, Mudiay will likely either slide to five or lower unless the Los Angeles Lakers or even Minnesota Timberwolves choose to roll the dice on the 19-year-old.

Along with talk of the Knicks potentially drafting Mudiay, there’s been rumors circulating about the team’s willingness to trade the pick rather than settle with the best player available once they’re on the clock. In all likelihood, New York will stand pat and simply draft Mudiay, but anything can change from now until draft day in the coming weeks.