Donnie Walsh stepped down as Knicks president yesterday, claiming he was just too old and tired to commit long-term to their future. But he will help shape that future as a consultant, and that includes overseeing yesterday’s pre-draft workouts with Long Island’s Tobias Harris and Carmelo Anthony protégé Josh Selby.
Tennessee’s Harris and Kansas’ Selby left college after their freshman seasons, calling the idea of becoming a Knick a dream come true. And after the team-wide suspensions and coaching change Harris had to deal with, and Selby’s injury and suspension for receiving “improper benefits,” they would be right at home in the Garden.
“Being from Dix Hill and seeing the Knicks through the years and what they’ve brought to the table now, the vibe the metro area has is pretty special,” said Harris, just 18 and thrilled at the prospect of teaming with Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire. “That would be a great feeling for me.
“I have the opportunity to be drafted, I’ll just be another great player to play a role and bring a winning attitude to the team.”
The versatile Harris (6-foot-8, 223 pounds) can go by power forwards and post up small forwards, with the high basketball IQ to compliment the Big Three and handle the glare of the Garden.
“I can handle playing anywhere,” Harris said. “I have a great focus and mental aspect for the game.”
Hoopshype, Nbadraft.net and Draftexpress all have him going 18th to Washington and Selby 27th to the Nets, with the former two expecting the Knicks to select Florida State’s Chris Singleton and the latter Donatas Motiejunas of Lithuania.
Selby is trying to reconstruct his image after a poor season, when the NCAA suspended him for the first nine games, a foot injury slowed him down and Jayhawks coach Bill Self barely used him late in the year. It turns out those “improper benefits” were provided by Anthony’s business manager, Robert “Bay” Frazier.
“[Anthony] just told me do what I do and everything will be fine. So I decided to just come out and play my game,” Selby said. “I’m trying to show I can play both positions, play-make and score if I need to. I’d love to play here. I dream about it. That’s always been my dream.”