NBA Draft 2020: 10 biggest overall takeaways from draft

Few complaints about Obi Toppin to the Knicks

One of the fun annual traditions of the NBA Draft is to see the reactions of who the New York Knicks take in the lottery. The franchise has struggled mightily in recent years, with a number of “interesting” offseason, draft, and trade decisions that have been made.

The franchise was snake-bitten again in the lottery, going from having the 5th-best odds to landing at No. 8 overall. The only positive is that it makes for less scrutiny when picking from there since someone could very well fall down to No. 8.

That’s what happened in the draft, with College National Player of the Year and star forward Obi Toppin coming to the Knicks. He was projected to go anywhere from 5-8 and with both Williams and Okongwu being taken early, that paved the way for New York to land Toppin.

Besides the natural comedic reactions of folks saying Toppin was crying because he was headed to New York, local fans of the franchise had no real issue with the move. Center Mitchell Robinson has promise and Julius Randle was good last season, but it’s clear that the Knicks could use an upgrade in talent in the frontcourt.

The one point being made is that point guard is the biggest positional issue for New York, which I would agree with. However, it’s been long rumored that the team will be offering Toronto Raptors free agent point guard Fred VanVleet. If that happens, then going with Toppin and his high ceiling makes even more sense.

Between his high-flying persona and local ties to New York, fans will fall in love with Toppin soon enough. It might not make Twitter as fun when the Knicks actually make the correct move but for one night, the slandering came to a pause.