The Knicks’ Summer League trip to Las Vegas has put a few of their young names under the microscope, and Tyler Nickel is making his case with the one skill that got him drafted in the first place: shooting.
Nickel, the former Vanderbilt wing taken 47th overall last month, has knocked down 10 of his 21 three-point tries through two games. He still hasn’t signed his first NBA contract, but his early showing has done exactly what it needed to do - remind everyone why his jumper is his calling card.
“I definitely feel like I have some comparisons in the league. I feel like I’m a mix of some different guys: my size, my strength, my shooting ability,” Nickel said.
“I feel really comfortable shooting off the move, so like Duncan Robinson, Max Strus, Sam Hauser. But then I have my own type of way of being.
So it’s kind of a mix of a lot of people but also myself.”
At 6-foot-7, Nickel brings size on the wing and a college résumé built around volume shooting, hitting 39.4% of his career threes. Defense remains the question mark, and Stefan Bondy of The New York Post reports that Nickel is unlikely to land a standard contract with New York, though he is a candidate for a two-way deal.
Nickel said landing with the Knicks meant plenty to him from the start.
“I heard my name called [at the draft], and seeing it being the Knicks, I was super excited,” Nickel said. “Obviously, a championship organization.
I thought it was perfect; a perfect situation to see what winning is all about. The standard that they hold everybody to in the program, I feel like it’s perfect for me to be on.”
Jack Kayil is in a different spot, but the message from the German guard is the same: he wants to stay in the NBA. The 39th pick in June’s draft said he’d rather continue his career in the league than be stashed overseas, though he knows the decision isn’t really his to make.
“My goal is to play in the NBA,” Kayil said. “That’s why I went into the draft.
… It’s not my decision, so I’m just trying to show myself in the best way, and it is what it is. … I’m super happy I also got drafted, and we’ll see what happens in the next days, weeks, whatever.”
Kayil made his Summer League debut Saturday and put up 12 points on 5-of-14 shooting, along with five rebounds, three assists and two steals in 21 minutes.
The Knicks, meanwhile, have had a rough start in Las Vegas. They’ve dropped their first two Summer League games by an average of 23.5 points, and French forward Mohamed Diawara has had a tough time finding his footing. Fresh off signing a four-year, $11.2 million deal to stay with New York, Diawara has averaged 3.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 turnovers in 24.7 minutes per game while shooting 1-of-14 from the field.
“I got to do way better. At the level we played last season, I got to do way better,” Diawara said after Friday’s loss. “I can’t play like I played today.”
Bondy also took a closer look at Summer League head coach T.J. Saint in a subscriber-only Post story.
Saint is entering his second season as an assistant on Mike Brown’s staff after spending three seasons as head coach of the Pelicans’ G League affiliate and another three as an assistant. He has also worked in the Pistons and Hawks organizations.
In Other News...
Knicks Fans Finally Get A Look At One Intriguing Newcomer
The first real look at Jack Kayil has been a little slower in coming than Knicks fans probably hoped after New York took the Alba Berlin guard with the 39th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Kayil sat out the clubs first Summer League game because of a delay tied to his team in Germany, but the wait appears close to ending, giving the Knicks a chance to see the kind of newcomer they added after trading down and stockpiling second-round picks in a draft shaped by their salary cap realities.
Kayils arrival also comes with the usual questions that follow an international pick in this spot. He does not have an obvious opening on the big club right now, and the Knicks may ultimately leave him in Germany next season as a draft-and-stash option. For now, though, the more immediate intrigue is simply getting him on the floor, with his debut expected soon and a matchup against the Spurs looming as the next chance for New York to evaluate what it has. [Read more 🡒]
Jordan Clarksons Return Just Put More Heat On Tyler Kolek
Jordan Clarksons return gives the Knicks another experienced guard option and, in the process, tightens an already crowded backcourt picture. For Tyler Kolek, that means the margin for error keeps shrinking as he tries to carve out a real role in a rotation that already has Deuce McBride, Landry Shamet and Jose Alvarado ahead of him.
Kolek still has time to change the conversation, but the path back into meaningful minutes looks anything but straightforward. Unless the Knicks make a move that reshapes the guard group or injuries open a lane, he is left waiting for an opening that may not come quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks May Have Made Their Smartest Summer Move Without Fixing Center
The Knicks spent part of the summer adding familiar depth pieces in Jose Alvarado, Landry Shamet and Andre Drummond, but the quieter move may have come in the draft-pick column. New York has also picked up four future second-rounders in recent trades, a stash of low-cost assets that gives the front office more ways to keep tinkering without touching the top of the roster.
That matters because the center spot still looks like the area most worth watching, even after the Drummond addition. The Knicks have been linked to other frontcourt possibilities, including Kyle Filipowski, and the extra picks could give them a path to chase another big or package together a broader trade if they decide the current group still needs one more answer inside. [Read more 🡒]