By Nina Mandell and Jim Scott
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — While other teams were drafting talented youngsters like John Wall or making trades to free up salary cap space for marquee free agents, the New York Knicks were content to stay put and draft two role players in the second round of the NBA Draft Thursday night.
The Knicks did not have a first round pick in the draft thanks to the Stephon Marbury trade in 2004.
Instead, hundreds of New York fans waited hours at the theater in Madison Square Garden for the Knicks to finally make their picks, the 38th and 39th overall in the draft.
Many of their faces were contorted into looks of shock and bewilderment as the Knicks passed on several heralded college players in favor of Syracuse shooting guard Andy Rautins and Stanford forward Landry Fields.
The Knicks mostly quiet draft night was fine with Coach Mike D'Antoni.
“Our big date is circled as July 1,” D’Antoni told reporters on Thursday. “We’ll set a course for the franchise for the next 10 years.”
By shedding a multitude of contracts last season, the Knicks have more than $30 million in cap space to lure James and possibly another star free agent like Chris Bosh or Amar'e Stoudamire to the Big Apple.
But the Knicks aren't the only team with the flexibility to land two superstars.
The Chicago Bulls made huge strides toward trumping the Knicks when they traded away veteran guard Kirk Hinrich and the 17th pick to the Wizards on Thursday. The trade clears at least $10 million in cap space off the books and gives the Bulls enough leeway to sign two All-Stars of their own to play with young stars Derek Rose and Joakim Noah.
Meanwhile, the Miami Heat traded its first round pick and guard Daequan Cook to Oklahoma City to clear cap space of their own. They now have enough cap space to resign star Dwayne Wade as well as another star, possibly James.
But D’Antoni said he was confident the Knicks could bring in the best of the best — whether it’s Lebron or another highly coveted free agent like Bosh.
"[The competition] was stiff anyway," D'Antoni said according to the New York Post. "As long as we keep the Empire State Building where it is, I think we'll be OK."
in the meantime New York fans will have to cross their fingers that the two second round picks pan out for the Knicks.
The 6-foot-4 Rautins is 3-point specialist who should fit in nicely with D'Antoni's free flowing offensive scheme. Rautins made 40.7 percent of his 3-pointers during his senior season at Syracuse.
“It’s a special feeling,’’ he told the Syracuse Post-Standard after being selected. “After all the hard work we’ve put in; it’s really special right now.’’
While the Rautins pick made sense on some levels, the Fields pick was a real head scratcher.
Fields, a 6-7 guard-forward combo, was an All Pac-10 first team selection and led the Pac-10 with 22 points per game in his senior season. However, he was not invited to several pre-draft camps and wasn't one of the 108 players in the draft media guide handed out by the NBA.
Lincoln High alum Lance Stephenson was one of several high-profile players passed up by the Knicks. Stephenson, who was taken by the Indiana Pacers with the 40th pick, went to the same high school as Marbury. Considering Marbury's history with the Knicks, it may have been the only sound decision made by New York on draft night.
