NBA Talk - P.S.

I posted the blog below BEFORE ESPN released their Mock Draft 5.0 today. You will see there that they now show the Knick's picking my man... but you would have already known that by reading my blog earlier today! Anyway, here is what ESPN says about him right now at the 6th pick:

"The skinny: The Knicks want a lead guard who can push the ball and hit an open jumper. Derrick Rose, O.J. Mayo and Jerryd Bayless are their top choices, but if they are off the board, New York will have a tough choice to make.

I had Danilo Gallinari here in the first two versions of this mock draft, thanks to his Italian ties with Mike D'Antoni.

But a Suns source told me that D'Antoni wasn't a huge fan of Gallinari's game when he was shown some tape during the season, which has made me seriously reconsider that forecast.

In the past two mock drafts, I've had two different guys in this spot -- D.J. Augustin and Anthony Randolph.

But after talking to the Knicks, I would say the two guys who now appear to stand out are Russell Westbrook and Joe Alexander.

Westbrook already worked out in New York, and I hear he was impressive. The team liked the way Westbrook handled himself on the court. His length, speed, athleticism and defense wowed them. And he shot the ball better than expected.

Alexander is a superathletic forward who has competed very hard in workouts. That's attractive to teams, but he still has some issues -- in particular, in terms of his basketball IQ, which he still needs to develop.

So this week, Westbrook is our choice. But we reserve the right to change it (again) next week."