Ian Begley, SNY.tv | Twitter |

Something worth noting for the Knicks as Thursday's NBA Draft approaches: teams in touch with the Memphis Grizzlies recently are under the impression that they would need to be presented with an incredibly strong offer to trade the No. 2 pick, per SNY sources.

Those teams believe the Grizzlies are happy with their draft position and the opportunity to select Murray State's Ja Morant, sources say. That scenario became all the more likely on Wednesday when Memphis agreed to trade Mike Conley to the Utah Jazz.

This is all relevant to the Knicks, of course, because they have the No. 3 pick, right after the Grizzlies. And teams have reportedly been calling Memphis about trades for the No. 2 pick.

Regarding the Knicks, opposing teams, agents of players expected to be selected in the top of the draft, and people in touch with the Knicks all say they will select RJ Barrett with the No. 3 pick if he's available.

New York has listened to offers to trade down in the draft as due diligence and it's logical to think that they will continue to listen to offers as the draft approaches. If they are blown away by an offer and decide to trade down, they've worked out and met with players who would be available at lower picks -- presumably to prepare themselves for such a scenario.

In addition to meeting with Morant, the Knicks have worked out Texas Tech's Jarrett Culver, Duke's Cam Reddish and Vanderbilt's Darius Garland -- all expected to be drafted after the No. 3 pick.

Garland, it should be noted, was ranked among the top three in some of the Knicks' recent draft boards, per league sources.

But, again, people on all sides of the conversation believe the Knicks will select Barrett if he is on the board at No. 3.

when we match up together it's going to be a battle."

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