Would the Knicks draft for need if they don’t win next week’s lottery and instead wind up with the second or third pick?
The Knicks view power forward as their greatest need following the Kristaps Porzingis trade. It just so happens that is the NBA position of Duke’s Zion Williamson, the consensus No. 1 pick. It also happens to be Kevin Durant’s position, too.
However, if the Knicks are choosing second or third with Murray State point guard Ja Morant and shooting guard RJ Barrett on the board, Knicks GM Scott Perry faces an interesting conundrum. Morant and Barrett are the consensus second and third picks — one way or the other.
With the Knicks coming off a 17-65 season, both of their backcourt positions are considered needs. The Knicks have young talent at each backcourt slot. It is believed they don’t consider either slot a greater need than the other.
In an interview on the new television show “MSG 150,” parts of which will air Monday and Tuesday nights, Perry indicated the Knicks likely will draft for talent first.
In excerpts obtained by The Post, Perry said: “Where we are at right now, talent is important. If it’s very close, then you may lean towards the position of need, but if there is a clear delineation between the talent, I think you always err on the side of talent.”
Knicks president Steve Mills and Perry are initial guests on “MSG 150,” a live, sports-talk show hosted by Bill Pidto and Alan Hahn. The Knicks, facing their historically critical offseason, are the focus of the first episode.
“When you prepare like we do, it gives us a good feeling and confidence to go out here and tackle it — nobody says it’s going to be easy, but we will embrace the challenge,” Perry said.
The Knicks are assured of a top-five pick when the lottery is staged May 14. They will have a 14 percent chance of winning it and a greater chance (26.1 percent) of finishing either No. 2 or 3, when the choice should come down to either Barrett or Morant.
The Knicks have three young lottery picks at point guard currently on their roster in Dennis Smith Jr., Frank Ntilikina and Emmanuel Mudiay — if he’s re-signed. And they fell in love with Kadeem Allen, under contract for next season on a two-way G-League pact.
At shooting guard, the Knicks boast youngsters Damyean Dotson and Allonzo Trier. They also consider Ntilikina more of a shooting guard.
There are so many ways free agency can go, so picking for need might seem foolish. While the common speculation is a Durant-Kyrie Irving pairing, Isiah Thomas, under contract with MSG through May as former Liberty president, said on TV he does not view KD and Irving as a good tandem because both are ball-dominant players.
Hence, trading for Anthony Davis, who can play both power forward or center, remains an option. The Knicks’ chances of putting together a package for Davis could also hinge on getting a top-three pick.
With a league-high $74 million of salary-cap space, the Knicks have drawn up a ton of scenarios.
“We always have Plan B, C, D E,” Perry said. “We are going to be prepared for whatever comes at us. I think we’re going to get this team better and we are going to make the right decision based on whatever transpires this summer. You hear me use the word ‘prudent’ a lot. We are going to be very prudent during this free-agency process and make the right personnel decisions for this team, both short and long term.”
In addressing free agency, Mills added, “One thing that we will do is only bring players here if they really buy into what we are trying to do and how we are trying to develop this team and develop our organization, make sure that player is comfortable and is coming here for the right reason.”
The most positive element to emerge from the disastrous 2018-19 campaign was the progress of rookie shot-blocking center Mitchell Robinson, considered the team’s defensive linchpin.
“Mitchell Robinson is one of our favorite guys in terms of how we’ve seen him grow as a young man, but he said the funniest thing to us in the exit interview,” Mills said. “We said, ‘What do you feel about the environment?’ And he said, ‘This feels like a family.’ He said, ‘You guys around here, it seems like you’ve known each other for 80 years.’ And I’m like 80? Where does that number come from?’ But that’s what he feels about the organization and the people who work here. That’s part of what we are trying to build.”
“MSG 150″ will air from 8-10:30 p.m. Monday-Thursdays for 10 weeks and feature guest analysts Swin Cash, John Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak and former MLB player Fernando Perez.
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