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Biggie, Biggie, Biggie

The Knicks went into the 2017 draft with one big target in mind. That big target was the Big Ten player of the year and consensus All-American Caleb 'Biggie' Swanigan.

Luckily Biggie was still on the board when the Knicks' number came up at 27 (dropping one position from the NBA draft). Swanigan will follow into the footsteps of guys likeÂ

David Lee, Kosta Koufos, Glen Davis, Kenneth Faried, John Henson and Bobby Portis. All players selected by the Knicks in the later half of the first round.

While they didn't hit a jackpot, all of these guys turned into servicable rotation players.
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Over the last decade, New York's only first-round bust was Earl Clark, who was a gamble with question marks about his dedication all over him.

With Swanigan there are no such concerns. He is plenty dedicated and nobody will ever second-guess his effort.

This is a guy who suffered through homelessness during his childhood. Who ballooned to close to 400 pounds as a teenager. A guy who took on the challenge to transform himself through hard work.

He now stands at a sculpted 6-9 and 246 pounds. Still one of the biggest guys around.

In college Swanigan was one of the most versatile players last season. He averaged 18.5ppg, 12.5rpg and 3apg. The only other player topping these numbers over a season in the last 25 years was none other than Tim Duncan.

In addition to that he shot a whooping 45% from downtown on 2.4 attempts per game.Â Â Â Â

He is limited vertically and with his size clearly not the fleetest afoot, but his 7-3 wingspan makes for a lot in the first and his basketball IQ a lot in the second departement.Â

But his best skill clearly is rebounding, which tends to translate well to pros.Â

One comparison that has been thrown around for Biggie, is Zach Randolph and the Knicks' front office hopes to keep Z-Bo around to tutor the young fellow during his rookie season.

With the addition of Swanigan the Knicks now feel good about their front-court rotation for next year. While Millsap, Randolph and NÃªne are all free-agents, the Knicks now have a plan B in place, if they cannot retain them all. Yes, they are that confident that Biggie will be able to contribute big time right away.

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