Yeah I could see where you're coming from, especially after previous Knicks front offices threw first round picks around for complete garbage (a first for Bargnani, two firsts for Eddy Curry, two firsts for Marbury and Penny and a first for crippled Antonio McDyess). On the other hand, the first round picks they did use were also used for garbage (Sweetney, Frye, Gallinari, Hill, Ntilikina, Knox).
At least they have some draft capital to work with here though, even if there are protections on a bunch of those picks. Also, at least Donovan Mitchell in return would appear to be much better than what they received in those previous awful deals. Ugh, it's hard being a Knicks fan.