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Welcome to the NBA! Brazilian Hilario picked, booed, traded on draft nightPosted: Thursday June 27, 2002 4:09 AMUpdated: Thursday June 27, 2002 6:02 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Right to the end, the New York Knicks held on to their lottery draft pick, convinced the No. 7 choice could be converted into help for a team that won just 30 games last season. With some attractive options like Chris Wilcox and Caron Butler available when their turn came Wednesday night, the Knicks went with 19-year-old Maybyner "Nene" Hilario, triggering boos from the Madison Square Garden crowd. "I didn't know what was going on," Hilario said. "I was very happy. It didn't matter." But Hilario was making only a pit stop in New York. The Knicks quickly packaged him with Marcus Camby and Mark Jackson to Denver for Antonio McDyess and the No. 25 pick in the draft, who turned out to be Frank Williams of Illinois. General manager Scott Layden said the lottery pick was a key to the deal. "We knew how attractive the No. 7 pick was," he said. "We knew we could use it to make the team better." The cornerstone of the deal was an exchange of two players who missed most of last season because of injuries. Camby played just 29 games and McDyess was limited to 10.
Layden believes McDyess can recover the form that made him the No. 2 choice in the 1995 draft. "You could tell by the size of the deal what we thought of him," Layden said. "And to get Frank Williams, who our scouting staff thought highly of, was a nice surprise." Fans at the draft chanted, "Fire Layden," after the GM chose Hilario. The chant grew louder when New York picked Milos Vujanic, a member of the Yugoslav junior national team, in the second round. "When you work in New York, you know how emotional the fans are and how knowledgeable the fans are," Layden said. "But I know they'll be thrilled with Antonio McDyess." To get him, New York parted with Hilario, the 6-foot-10 Brazilian with an arm-to-arm wing span of 7 feet, 41/2 inches. Hilario's stock went up at the 2001 Goodwill Games when he blocked five shots in 18 minutes against the gold medal American team. He averaged 13.2 points and 10.1 rebounds through the first 15 games of the season for Brazil and impressed scouts with his draft workouts. Camby helped the Knicks to the NBA Finals in 1999 and Jackson was part of a three-man point guard rotation that never quite worked. Jackson played the first part of the 1996-97 season with the Nuggets before being traded to Indiana. He has also played for the Los Angeles Clippers and Toronto Raptors. "We traded two players away who meant so much to our organization," Layden said. The Knicks were eager to deal and remain in that mode. "We added a player who can post up in the low post and perhaps demand a double team," coach Don Chaney said. "I think we need more additions but this is a good start. We're still very small at center and we're hopeful we can get something done." Earlier, there was speculation that the Knicks would come out of the draft with Cleveland point guard Andre Miller, and it seemed certain the Cavaliers would be moving Miller after they drafted Dajuan Wagner with the sixth pick. That left Wilcox from national champion Maryland, and Butler from Connecticut as possibilities for the Knicks at No. 7. The home crowd chanted for both of them, but Layden chose Hilario instead. The Knicks were sensitive to recent draft failures. They had no first-round pick last year, traded No. 1 Donnell Harvey in a failed deal for Erick Strickland two years ago and in 1999 picked French player Frederic Weis, who never played in the NBA. |
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Scott Layden assesses the trade.
