"As the draft dominoes fell Thursday night, the Knicks got within one pick of Stephen Curry and were just about ready to grab him when …

Whoa, Nellie.

Golden State's Don Nelson, a former Knicks coach, snatched him away with the seventh overall pick and at No. 8, Donnie Walsh declined to go the expected guard route, instead selecting Arizona power forward Jordan Hill.

The second Arizona forward picked by the Knicks in the last four drafts (Isiah Thomas chose Channing Frye with the eighth pick in 2005), Hill heard a typical reaction from the New York crowd when his name was announced: "Boooo."

The crowd produced the same reaction not only when Curry went to the Warriors, but when Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio (another Knicks' wish-list pick) went No. 5 to Minnesota.

Coach Mike D'Antoni, in fact, admitted to a little disappointment when Curry came off the board, saying, "I could lie to you and say no."

But Walsh, who said he was surprised at his inability to generate serious trade-up talks Thursday, said he's heard Curry could be moved in a prearranged deal with a team he didn't name - possibly Phoenix in an Amar'e Stoudemire blockbuster.

In fact, Hill, whose dreadlocks and jazz-DJ voice are reminiscent of 2006 first-rounder Renaldo Balkman, is a player D'Antoni likens to Stoudemire, his power forward in Phoenix, who came to the NBA straight from high school.

"He does have the offensive skills that Amar'e didn't have to start with and that Amar'e has now," the coach said. "He's further along, but he had three years of college and Amar'e didn't.

"There are some things that are very similar in the way he runs the floor, his pick-and-roll, the way he separates [with] his shooting. There was a lot of stuff that reminded us of Amar'e."

"He can score, he can rebound, he can block shots, he can run the floor, [he's] a very good athlete," Walsh said. "He's improved in each year."

"He's 6-10 and can run the floor," D'Antoni said. "It's easier to find little shooters than it is to find big shooters. We got him and [Danilo] Gallinari and different guys with a lot of length who'll be able to knock down a lot of shots.""