Tyler Kolek is Creating Good Problems for the Knicks
Kolek's 2 summer league games and 14 assists vs no TO's is a great problem for the Knicks. We now legitimately have 5 NBA-caliber guards + Kolek, and each of them is unique.
Jalen Brunson: Offensive Hub
Josh Hart: Peak Rebounder and Decent Defense
Donte DiVincenzo: Catch and Shoot Specialist alongside Decent Defense
Miles McBride: Flamethrower
Cam Payne: Poor man's Donte
Tyler Kolek: Floor General
Our offense was horrible last year when Brunson sat. Part of that was because we had no ball handler to set teammates up and orchestrate the offense in the 2nd unit. Kolek adds a floor general who can play make at a high level.
But, he's not going to start if he continues like this. If he starts knocking down threes, Kolek could be a part of our rotation midway through the season because we have the defensive guys to cover his weaknesses on that end.
by Night00708
28 Comments
We’re calling two summer league games “emergence”? Lol
Love the optimism and I hear he looks good but havent caught a SL game. The team seems high on him which is a good sign. Ultimately, its Summer League though.
I’m on the Kolek train but unless he starts being more confident in shooting and putting pressure on the rim, he may be ticketed for a good stretch in Westchester.
Signing Cam Payne definitely allows for that so there is no need to rush Kolek.
This is a nice thought but there’s a nonzero chance that he’s absolutely unplayable in the NBA because of how poor of a defender he’ll be. He might need a little more time in the oven before he’s ready for real minutes.
It’s summer league. Maybe kolek cracks the rotation at the midway point this year but even w the flashes he has shown I will have zero expectations for him to make an impact this year since the Knicks franchise most likely has zero expectations as well
The injuries are a big factor as to why our team looked bad when Jalen sat. Randle would be handling the ball in those situations.
Kolek is not a NEED to have he’s a nice to have. He’s proven he’s an elite passer but he’s a minus player because of his atrocious defense. I think he can develop the skills but this opinion piece makes it sound like he’s nba ready which is not true.
i still don’t understand how people seem to think that deuce can’t improve as a floor general during this offseason. what else would he be working on? the best way for him to do that is watching a ton of film, which is easy because he got the minutes for there to be a ton of film, and a broken toe means what else can he do except watch film.
i have faith in deuce to step up and be great in his role next year, and eventually play himself off the team and into a starting role elsewhere for a deserved bag. leon will trade him before he hits free agency, which means kolek will have 2 seasons to prepare to replace him, and he’ll need all that time to get there. rushing him because he’s really good at the one thing our bench needed last season is not doing anyone any favors.
Cam Payne is our backup pg
I watch a lot of big east basketball and I’d be surprised if this guy turns out to be anything more than a 3rd guard.
I would be surprised if we see any of our rookies get minutes this season.
Kolek is now 4th pg on the depth chart but I’m sure Weill get a lot of practice in the gleague.
I think the ideal scenarios is in a year or two he makes Deuce expendable but I think Deuce deserves the opportunity to show he can run the backup point this year.
SL is a nice start, shows us his play and tempo in games. Next step up is practice and TC, reveal how he does vs NBA grade players.
Guy was bad yesterday
Can’t wait for endless off-season hype for Kolek to end up playing like 2 MPG this year.
hart is more than a decent defender
Was that article written by AI
Anyway, hoping in these last 2 games he tries to shoot more. He was a good scorer at Marquette and definitely took over games, but it’s clear he’s deferring a lot more in the summer league games.
No way is Campaign a poor man’s Donte.
2 summer league games…. lol
News flash… there is a player in summer league that doesn’t suck
Kolek looks great. He’s not playing much here this year unless some guys get hurt. Nice development project.
Bro yall are getting a little wild out here.
Last year “we need a secondary ball handler that can run the offense”
Now “he doesn’t shoot or play good enough defense”
What yall really want is a Magic Johnson/Michael Jordan/Larry Bird Hybrid running the second unit.
Wow are we expecting the world out of a 2nd round pick lol
Let’s see how he develops in the actual NBA, but that might be in garbage time first so might be a while!
It is summer league and Thibs is notorious for having guys earn their minutes. I wouldn’t expect to see a 2nd round rookie play next season unless there are multiple injuries
Harts a guard?
Comparing Cam Payne to Donte is very interesting 🤔👀
I get that it’s nice to see our picks play well. But it’s summer league. We watched Kevin Knox look like a splash brother in summer league. It’s nearly impossible to gain any meaningful insight on a player’s future. Just enjoy watching the kids get some reps in and worry about their future when we get to watch them against real NBA competition.
These are summer league games…
He’s been terrible defensively… it is not going to play in Thibs’ system… let’s see how he is. He signed for 4 years so the team believes in him. I think if he can be a Luke Ridnour/Ramon Sessions type he can be a contributor.
Summer League doesn’t count for anything
Calling cam payne a poor man’s donte is…generous