The Knicks will begin private draft workouts Monday at their Tarrytown headquarters, and the first one up is also the tallest: 7-foot-7 Tacko Fall, The Post has learned.
The gargantuan Central Florida big man is coming off a rousing draft combine in Chicago, to which he was not even invited at the start. Fall needed to qualify in a pre-combine event, called the “Next 40,” that was staged earlier in the week before the lottery.
The Knicks interviewed 30 players at the combine but not Fall. Knicks brass came into the combine unsure he was an NBA player because of his limitations as a mobile defender.
According to a source, Providence swingman Alpha Diallo also will be part of Fall’s group workout.
In addition to the No. 3 pick, the Knicks have a second-round pick — at 55 — and now it’s unclear if Fall will fall that far after his combine coming-out party.
Fall landed on the map after a solid outing against Zion Williamson and Duke in the NCAA Tournament’s second round, when he fell one point short of a monumental upset.
Fall, 23, set combine measurement records and showed quickness on defense. The Knicks — and other teams — are concerned about how Fall would handle being put into high pick-and-roll situations. But they also envision Fall as being a potential lane-disrupter in playoff contests — a place they believe they will revisit this season if they are able to snatch two free-agent stars with their cap space, or trade for Anthony Davis.
At Friday’s press conference in Chicago, Fall said: “I feel like [NBA teams] already knew about my game. [They had] a few question marks. Can he keep up with the game? Can he run up and down the floor? Those are the things I improved on a lot, especially for somebody my size. I can change the game in a lot of ways, and I just wanted to show it.”
Fall said he has a Shaq-like size-22 shoe and set combine records for wingspan (8.25) and standing reach (10.25).
The Knicks will explore adding another pick in the draft and they may make point guard Frank Ntilikina available.