NBA Draft Lottery 2018: Who each team should take with the No. 1 pick

By Ian Levy | May 15, 2018

WIZINK CENTER, MADRID, SPAIN - 2018/05/03: Luka Doncic, #7 of Real Madrid pictured prior to the 2017/2018 Liga Endesa Regular Season (game 29) between Real Madrid and Kirolbet Baskonia at WiZink Center in Madrid. (Photo by Jorge Sanz/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) /

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OMAHA, NE – MARCH 25: Marvin Bagley III #35 of the Duke Blue Devils concentrates at the free throw line against the Kansas Jayhawks during the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional Final at CenturyLink Center on March 25, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /

9. New York Knicks — Marvin Bagley (1.7% chance)

The Knicks have a lot of holes on their roster and it’s possible that a good chunk of the upcoming season is an opportunity for them to experiment and force-feed minutes to their young players as Kristaps Porzingis continues recovering from his torn ACL.

Porzingis is the future for the Knicks and, although he’s spent a lot of time next to traditional centers, he’s probably playing center almost exclusively in any hypothetical high-leverage playoff series. Frank Ntilikina looks like a key piece in the backcourt, Lance Thomas is fun, Trey Burke could be useful off the bench and Tim Hardaway and his albatross contract are firmly entrenched on the wing.

Doncic would make a lot of sense here but Bagley’s fit next to Porzingis is intriguing as well. There is plenty of overlap in his offensive strengths with Porzingis but the potential for his offensive role, via shooting and ball-handling, to stretch out to the wing could give the Knicks an incredible size advantage without sacrificing anything with regards to perimeter skills. In addition, if Porzingis is going to miss an extended amount of time, Bagley could come in ready to absorb a big offensive load and build confidence right off the bat.

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