The New York Knicks haven't exactly killed it in the NBA Draft over the past few years. That, however, has not been for lack of trying — even the illegal kind.
According to Yahoo Sports, the Knicks, particularly director of East Coast scouting Rodney Heard, repeatedly conducted secret illegal workouts in the Atlanta area from 2007 to 2010.
One such workout with former Kansas Jayhawks star Brandon Rush resulted in an ACL tear that knocked him out of the 2007 NBA draft and was the subject of a potential cover-up operation.
"Brandon initially told us he hurt his knee in Kansas City," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "And later, he told us that was inaccurate and that it happened the day prior, while he was in North Carolina. We heard about the workouts in Atlanta, and we asked Brandon if he had worked out there and he said, ‘No,’ that he was injured when he got there."
Rush did say that nobody with the Knicks ever asked him to lie about the injury, though he did confirm that it happened while he was in Atlanta with Heard.
Heard also conducted mutliple illegal training sessions with Wilson Chandler, whom the team subsequently drafted with their first-round pick in 2007.
Many of Heard's illegal workout's reportedly can be linked to his relationship with agent Chris Luchey.
Other players involved include Kentucky's Joe Crawford, Syracuse's Eric Devendorf, Baylor's Ekpe Udoh and DePaul's Dar Tucker — among others.
The workouts generally violated two rules — hosting workouts prior to the annual predraft camp, and hosting too many workouts in a short time-frame.
Former Knicks' GM Isaiah Thomas declined to comment, and current GM Donnie Wolsh said he was unaware of such workouts.
Heard has denied the allegations.
If the team was found to be in violation of league rules, they could be subject to fines and penalties, particularly given the extended nature of the infractions.
