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Prior to the NBA draft lottery, some members of the New York Knicks' front office were enamored with Ohio State guard D'Angelo Russell. The Knicks, like most other lottery teams, watched Russell closely during the season. The club also interviewed Russell in Chicago at the NBA draft combine. "Some of their guys absolutely love him," one league source with knowledge of the situation said on Monday night. But the Knicks fell to fourth pick in the draft on Tuesday night, so it doesn't seem as though they'll be able to draft Russell, who is projected to go no lower than third. Things could change over the next four weeks, of course. But if Russell, Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor are off the draft board before the Knicks pick, many draft experts and scouts believe Emmanuel Mudiay is the next best player available. For more on Mudiay, we spoke with Ryan Blake, the senior scouting consultant for the NBA, and ESPN Insider Fran Fraschilla, who has watched Mudiay extensively in high school and in China. Blake said the 6-foot-5 Mudiay will be able to play both guard positions in the NBA and should be able to get to the rim. That's an area where the Knicks struggled last season. "He's a solid-sized combo guard," Blake said. "He attacks the rim with quickness, has wiry strength and is a good board man for his size. The only thing that concerns is his perimeter shooting. He wasn't bad, he shot around 35 percent when he was over there." Fraschilla believes Mudiay can develop into a strong perimeter defender, which the Knicks have lacked in recent seasons. "There's no reason he should not become a very good defender because he's got positional size, speed, quickness and strength," Fraschilla said. "It's just now a matter of 'want to' with him. My dealing with him is he's a high-character kid." Interestingly, Fraschilla also sees Mudiay as a player who can contribute right away. He projects the 19-year-old as a quality starter in his rookie season. "Point guards have had a relatively easy adjustment to the NBA -- a lot of the dynamic young guards had instant impact," Fraschilla said. "The game's not as physical on the perimeter anymore. Hand-checking is not allowed. There's a lot of freedom for quick, talented guards." The Knicks have done their homework thus far on Mudiay. They've scouted him extensively, watching him in person during the season, according to league sources. They have yet to schedule a workout with him. Mudiay also seems like a player who can adjust well. He has already lived in China, some 7,500 miles away from his Dallas home. He made it clear earlier this week that he'd have no problem playing for Phil Jackson and the Knicks. "He's a legend, so everything that he's going to say or try to give advice on I would listen to it just because he's been there," Mudiay said of Jackson late Tuesday night. "He has 10-plus championships so why not learn from someone like that?"
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