Why the Knicks are bad

Jordan Hill, Danilo Gallinari, Channing Frye, Mike Sweetney. That's the Knicks last 4 Knicks lottery picks. That's why they are bad. They have done a decent job drafting later in the draft with players like David Lee, Nate Robinson, Trevor Ariza, Wilson Chandler, etc, but you build your team in the lottery.

It is in the lottery where you get superstar players. That's where you build your franchise moreso than free agency. The Lakers drafted Kobe. The Cavs drafted Lebron. The Heat drafted Dwayne Wade. The Nuggets drafted Carmelo. The Raptors drafted Bosh. The Suns drafted Amare. The Blazers drafted Brandon Roy. The Mavs drafted Dirk. The Spurs drafted Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu (and David Robinson for that matter). The Rockets drafted Hakeem. It's very, very, very rare that you will be able to get a superstar in their prime sign via free agency to your team. That's how you win championships.

With Jordan Hill the Knicks passed up on DeMar Derozan, Brandon Jennings and some others that already look like better players than Hill. It's still early for Hill and he might develop into a decent player, but than again the Knicks won't be able to see any benefits as he was traded as a part of the Tracy McGrady dea.

With Danilo Gallinari the Knicks passed up on Eric Gordon, Brook Lopez, Anthony Randolph, Nicolas Batum and others who look like better players than Gallinari. It is still early for Gallinari though and maybe he'll develop into a more complete player rather than just a 3 pt shooter.

With Channing Frye the Knicks passed up on Bynum, Danny Granger and others.

With Sweetney the Knicks passed up on Josh Howard, Barbosa, David West, Diaw, Kendrick Perkins and others.

The Knicks are bad, but they are worse at drafting in the lottery. That is why they are where they are even more than the horrible signings like Jerome James, Eddy Curry, and Jared Jeffries.