The New York Knicks had to wait more than four hours and watch 47 players come off the board in Thursday's 2012 NBA draft before they got to make a selection. With that selection, a second-rounder that was 48th overall, the Knicks selected Kostas Papanikolaou, a forward from Olympiacos (Greece).
Papanikolaou is a 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward.
NBA.com says:
"If he wants to find a place for himself in the NBA will need to work on his outside shot (find consistency and some off dribble ability) and figure out the defensive concerns around him. Some athletic improvement is possible. With some strides and the proper development, we can see Papanikolaou in the rotation of a NBA franchise in the future."
Here is more on Papanikolaou from NBA.com:
Strengths:
- Solid athleticism with good explosiveness and quickness
- Strong leaper and a solid rebounder
- Great hustle and aggressiveness
- Lefty, can score inside and outside
- Can play both the 2 and the 3
- Works very well off the ball
Weaknesses:
- Lateral quickness needs improvement
- Needs more consistency from long range
- Hasn't shown much ability to create shot off the dribble