The Final Score

ANTHONY: MY FEAR IS DONNIE'S GONNA BLOW IT

Like most execs, Donnie Walsh has a mixed draft record. Here are his first-round picks for Indiana. Thanks to www.knicksonline.com.

1987 Reggie Miller
1988 Rik Smits
1989 George McCloud
1990 None
1991 Dale Davis
1992 Malik Sealy
1993 Scott Haskin
1994 Eric Piakowski
1995 Travis Best
1996 Erick Dampier
1997 Austin Croshere
1998 Al Harrington
1999 Vonteego Cummings
2000 Primoz Brezec
2001 None
2002 Fred Jones
2003 None
2004 David Harrison
2005 Danny Granger

Miller and Smits are a pretty good start to a drafting record. But how many All-Stars since then? The Knicks need impact players, not role guys.

It’s important to note Walsh picked Jones in 2002 over Tayshaun Prince. Isiah Thomas usually gets blamed for that, but Walsh was the man who made the final call.

The Pacers were usually in the middle to the end of the pack of the draft, so finding a star player was hard.

But…

Walsh hasn’t drafted an impact player since Al Harrington a decade ago. And Harrington took a long time to develop.

Can the Knicks afford for Walsh to swing and miss here? No. And of all of the trade proposals I’ve read today on Alan Hahn’s Knicks Fix blog – yes, I’m a Fixer – the only one that makes the Knicks better is the one that lands them O.J. Mayo.

And Alan says that one probably ain’t happening.

The Knicks are 3-for-3 in their last three decisions: dumping Isiah, hiring Walsh, hiring D’Antoni.

Sorry, but it’s hard to imagine them going 4-for-4.

JIM: WALSH WILL MAKE RIGHT CHOICE

Donnie Walsh's draft history is not encouraging, and that certainly should worry Knicks fans. But, rest assured, when it's the Knicks' turn on the clock for the sixth pick, I think the choice will be an obvious one. And that's Danilo Gallinari.

From everything I've read about the draft, this guy is the most intriguing player after the can't-miss stars. And the fact that he has a relationship with the new Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni and is a big man who can run the floor and score, score, score also are positives.

Now the last thing I want to hear from Knicks fans who disagree is that Gallinari doesn't fit the Knicks' needs. So, tell me, what are the Knicks' needs? They need talent. Forget about how he fits. The Knicks are rebuilding, and when you rebuild you take the best player on the board and then make everyone else fit around him.

So, for tonight, I have faith in Donnie Walsh that he won't take another Fred Jones like he did in 2002 or Primoz Brezec like he did in 2000. He'll go for Gallinari, and history will soon prove it was hands-down the right call.