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5 hours ago
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When fans glance over the board for the 2025 NBA Draft, they may notice a glaring issue: there are 59 picks instead of the traditional 60.
That's no mistake, though. This year's draft is short one pick for a reason — the Knicks were supposed to own the missing selection until they surrendered it to the NBA as a punishment.
New York's forfeited pick was in connection to a tampering case involving star guard Jalen Brunson, who signed with the team in the summer of 2022 after a few years with the Mavericks.
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Here's more on why the Knicks' 2025 second-round pick was forfeited to the NBA.
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Why did Knicks forfeit 2025 second-round pick?
The NBA announced in December 2022 that the Knicks would forfeit their 2025 second-round selection as the result of an investigation into tampering.
Jalen Brunson agreed to a four-year, $104 million deal to leave the Mavericks in free agency and join the Knicks in the previous summer before he really broke through as a star in New York. Not long after the signing, the NBA began investigating whether the Knicks tampered ahead of time in their deal with Brunson.
Ultimately, the league's investigation found that "the Knicks engaged in free agency discussions involving Jalen Brunson prior to the date when such discussions were permitted." As a result, the team forfeited its 2025 second-round pick.
In the long run, the team potentially tampering and being punished for it has been a small price to pay in exchange for Brunson's star-level production. He's averaged at least 24 points per game in all three of his seasons as a Knick, being named to an All-Star twice.
Before he even signed in New York, Brunson had a connection to the Knicks. His father, Rick Brunson, had joined the team as an assistant coach in June 2022, the same month that New York would reportedly agree to a deal with the guard.
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