Furthermore, of the 10 Knicks to play in the finals only Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride were drafted by New York. Virtually everyone else was acquired through trade. Compare that to the Spurs who played 6 draft picks of their 10 players and also have 3 draft picks starting: Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell.
Going back in history:
- The Thunder had 3 in 2025 - Chet, JDub, Cason Wallace
- The Pacers had 2 in 2025 - Turner, Nembhard
- The Celtics had 2 in 2024 - Tatum, Brown
- The Mavericks had 1 in 2024 - Doncic
- The Nuggets had 3 in 2023 - Jokic, Murray, MPJ
- The Heat had 1 in 2023 - Bam
- The Warriors had 4 in 2022 - Steph, Klay, Dray, Looney
- The Celtics had 4 in 2022 - Tatum, Brown, Smart, Robert Williams
- The Bucks had 1 in 2021 - Giannis
- The Suns had 3 in 2021 - Booker, Ayton, Mikal Bridges
- The Lakers had 0 in 2020
- The Heat had 2 in 2020 - Bam, Herro
- The Raptors had 1 in 2019 - Siakam
- The Warriors had 4 in 2019 - Steph, Klay, Dray, Jordan Bell
- The Warriors had 3 in 2018 - Steph, Klay, Dray
- The Cavaliers had 2 in 2018 - Lebron, Tristan Thompson
- The Warriors had 3 in 2017 - Steph, Klay, Dray
- The Cavaliers had 3 in 2017 - Lebron, Kyrie, Tristan Thompson
- The Warriors had 4 in 2016 - Steph, Klay, Dray, Harrison Barnes
- The Cavaliers had 3 in 2016 - Lebron, Kyrie, Tristan Thompson
- The Warriors had 4 in 2016 - Steph, Klay, Dray, Harrison Barnes
- The Cavaliers had 3 in 2016 - Lebron, Kyrie, Tristan Thompson
- The Warriors had 4 in 2015 - Steph, Klay, Dray, Harrison Barnes
- The Cavaliers had 3 in 2015 - Lebron**, Kyrie, Tristan Thompson
Apologies if this was covered on the broadcast I’ve had night shifts all week and didn’t see the games live
*^(Some players counted were drafted by other teams and traded for on draft night ie Luka was technically drafted by the Hawks)
^(**Mr. James left and then came back to the team that drafted him)