"One pick was all that separated the Knicks from drafting Stephen Curry Thursday night. Now, they are separated by nearly 3,000 miles.

Curry was taken seventh overall by the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Draft, a stunning turn of events that left Jordan Hill and Donnie Walsh as the two most unpopular people in New York.

Walsh selected Hill, a 6-foot-10 forward from Arizona, eighth overall much to the dismay of the partisan crowd inside the WaMu Theatre.

"I've been through that in Indiana," Walsh said. "They booed Chuck Person. They booed Reggie Miller. I can go on and on."

Walsh called Hill "one of the best if not the best big men" in the draft. He averaged 18.3 points and 11 rebounds as a junior for the Wildcats.

"Our scouts have him rated as the second best player in the draft," Mike D'Antoni said. "I don't want to get ahead of myself but I think he can be a really good player. He's long. He can really run the floor. He's got range and he can block shots."

The general consensus was that Walsh would draft a guard, especially after selecting Danilo Gallinari in the first round last year. Plus, the Knicks appear committed to re-signing restricted free agent David Lee, a power forward who mostly played center last season. The Knicks are also working on a deal to acquire power forward Darko Milicic from Memphis for Quentin Richardson.

"This has nothing to do with David Lee," Walsh said, ruling out the idea Hill plus the impending arrival of Milicic's signals an end to Lee's career in New York.

The Knicks still had an opportunity to select a guard after acquiring the 29th pick from the Lakers for $3 million and a future second round pick.

Ricky Rubio and Curry were the top two guards on the Knicks draft board but Rubio was selected fifth overall by Minnesota. The Wolves also had the fifth pick and they used it to draft another guard, Syracuse's Jonny Flynn.

That move left Curry on the board and had the crowd buzzing. But the Warriors crushed the spirit of Knick fans by drafting Curry, the best shooter in the draft and a player that led the nation in scoring last season. Walsh suggested that Curry could be part of a future trade with another team, likely the Phoenix Suns."