Dillon Mitchell is in the Knicks’ second-round picture, and the draw is simple: he already knows Madison Square Garden and New York’s draft board still has room. The Knicks held No. 31, No. 47 and No. 55 when the draft resumed on Wednesday, but No. 31 was already the pick most likely to move.
Mitchell called the possibility of landing with the Knicks “It’d be insane,” before the draft. He added, “It’d be exciting to just stay there and be with all those fans again and be with Coach [Pitino], all the coaching staff, St. John's is right there not too far away and being able to compete at MSG again, it would be a lot to me.”
New York Knicks and the board
The Knicks had already changed their draft shape on Tuesday night. They moved No. 24 to the Los Angeles Lakers for No. 25, then sent No. 25, which was tied to Sergio De Larrea, to the Dallas Mavericks for No. 30, which was Arizona forward Koa Peat, and shipped to the Phoenix Suns.
That left them with five total second-round picks and cash, plus the No. 31 overall pick when the draft resumed on Wednesday. For a team trying to avoid the second apron while defending its championship, the second round is not a throwaway zone; it is where New York has to find usable depth without costing itself flexibility elsewhere.
Dillon Mitchell at MSG
Mitchell’s case is rooted in familiarity as much as fit. He played one season at Madison Square Garden with the Red Storm, so the venue would not be new if the Knicks used one of their second-round selections on him.
His agent is Sam Rose, whose family connection to the Knicks keeps Mitchell linked to the team in a more direct way than a normal draft prospect. That connection does not guarantee anything, but it explains why his name stayed in the same draft conversation as the Knicks’ second-round inventory.
No. 31 on the clock
The problem for Mitchell is the same one that gives him a path: the Knicks were on the verge of trading No. 31. If that pick moved, the cleanest route to him would shrink fast, even with No. 47 and No. 55 still in hand.
So the draft question is practical, not abstract. If New York keeps a second-round slot and wants a player who already knows St. John's, MSG and Rick Pitino’s program, Mitchell sits on the board as the most obvious match in the facts available.
