Keeping homegrown players is a way to build an NBA team’s foundation. These players, usually first-round draft choices, stick for the long term, signing second or even third contracts to keep their roster spot. The New York Knicks have struggled with this.
Constant roster reconstructions have the Knicks shifting first-round draft picks and players who were drafted by them to other teams. Sometimes, it worked for them in trading for Carmelo Anthony. Other times, these picks and players leave for Eddy Curry.
So keeping these first-rounders have proven rare. In fact, New York’s history of keeping these picks for a second contract has not happened since the turn of the millennium.