Jennings to start Opening Night, Hill not in Rotation

Earlier this evening I came across the news that Brandon Jennings, the Bucks first round draft pick this season would be in the starting lineup I instantly dropped my head in disgust.

Let me explain.

...and I'm pretty terrible

Mr. Walsh has passed on two outstanding talents these past two drafts for Danilo Gallinari and Jordan Hill. Which talents am I talking about exactly? I’m talking about Eric Gordon and Brandon Jennings. Sure, we got snubbed by the horribly run Warriors with their Stephen Curry selection. The Knicks back up plan was Jordan Hill, or trade for Ricky Rubio. Rubio trade talks failed and we wound up with Jordan Hill, and passed on a franchise point guard for a power forward who can’t even make our depleted rotation.

Passing on Jennings was a critical mistake, and the selection of Jordan Hill will haunt the Knicks as Jennings will have an outstanding rookie season. Hill is 22 years old, and now it comes out that he’s not NBA ready? Jennings is 19 years old and in the starting lineup. Eric Gordon was a one-and-done at Indiana University and he is now a starter on a playoff caliber Clippers club.

Gallinari has played better this preseason, but I’m getting really tired of D’Antoni and Walsh’s words towards this team’s future. Saying Gallinari was the best shooter he’s ever seen was to take the pressure off Walsh for the selection. Gordon was the right choice then, and with each passing game all signs point to Gallinari being a bust.

This team’s talent is minimal if next season doesn’t go as planned, where do we go from there? We needed to be drafting pieces to a championship caliber team; instead we’ve taken two projects that will take years to reach their ceilings. Gordon and Jennings are already exploiting the Knicks drafting blunders, so dare I mention Isiah Thomas’s name in regards to the Knicks? Keeping Thomas for drafting purposes may have actually been for the better because I can guarantee you he would have taken Gordon and Jennings. Sure, he handed out bad contracts to free agents, but his ability to see raw talent was always spot on.

Walsh knows how to get rid of bad contracts, not judge talent and that may cost us come next summer.