The Knicks brass are excited about the all-around game Toney Douglas brings to the table. NBAE/Getty Images

Knicks rookie Toney Douglas is a special kind of player.

Douglas not only led the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring last season with 21.5 points per game but he was also named the ACC defensive player of the year after helping Florida State rank as one of the league’s top defensive squads. He clearly understands that the game needs to be won on both ends of the court.

“I feel like you always have to separate yourself to make you stand out more than other players,” Douglas said. “You rarely see a guard that can score the ball and play with just as much passion on the defensive end as offense. That’s rare.”

It’s rare indeed. But that’s the way Douglas felt he needed to play in the ACC, a league that he said has some the strongest guard competition in the country.

“Night in and night out you’re going to have to play,” he said. “If you don’t play defense, you’ll get exposed. So I’ve been working on a lot of my agility stuff, foot work, movement, quickness and stuff like that. And I watch a lot of film, being a student of the game. That’s one thing I do.”

And there’s no other way Douglas would rather play the game. He says he needs to know his opponent’s every move – “what he can do and what he can’t do” – before he takes the court each night.

“It’s just the right way to play,” the 6-foot-2 combo guard said. “Everybody looks at the offensive end, but you win games by defense. It doesn’t make any sense if you score and the other team scores too because the games going to be tied and there are going to be a lot of points. In the NBA playoffs you’ll see teams locking up on defense. You got to get stops. I feel like I can bring that to New York.”

And that’s exactly why Douglas was ranked so high on the Knicks’ draft board. The Knicks fell in love with him after a strong showing against top-notch guards Jonny Flynn and Ty Lawson in his workout with the team three weeks ago and decided to make a trade to get him.

The Knicks acquired the rights to Douglas after the Lakers selected him with the 29th overall pick in exchange for a future second-round pick and cash considerations.

“There aren’t many guys who have been one of the high scorers in the ACC and made the All-ACC first team and defensive player of the year in the ACC,” Knicks President Donnie Walsh said. “That’s pretty good as far as I’m concerned.

“When you get down to No. 29, you’re looking for a guy that may be unheralded. He kind of slipped through the cracks maybe because of the college he played for or something like that.”

Head Coach Mike D’Antoni knows nothing is guaranteed, but taking a chance on trading for Douglas was a no-brainer.

“Courtney Lee was (drafted) 24th and he was one of the better players in the draft last year and David Lee was 30th (in 2006),” D’Antoni said. “Teams don’t get it right all the time, we don’t get it right all the time, so we’re hoping he’s a good (pick). That would mean that 20 other teams messed up.”