As much as injuries hurt a team, they can also open up opportunities for otherwise bench-relegated players to step up. The Knicks witnessed this firsthand with Quentin Grimes’ rookie emergence and Isaiah Hartenstein’s breakout last year.
Now they appear to have found another diamond in the rough, their 34th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Tyler Kolek.
The 6-foot-1 guard dazzled at Marquette but up until recently, most of his professional playing time with has come with Westchester, only sporadically being subbed in during garbage time minutes with the Knicks.
This isn’t surprising, given head coach Tom Thibodeau’s commitment to winning over long-term goals and New York’s established depth at the guard spot in Jalen Brunson, Miles McBride and Cameron Payne.
However, Kolek’s played close to 20 minutes in each of the last three games due to two of those guards being out — and now all three will be absent for Friday’s matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks — setting the stage for Kolek to continue shining in increased minutes.
If he plays as well as he has, Kolek could earn himself a permanent rotation spot.
In the 56 minutes he’s played over the last three games, Kolek’s recorded 24 assists and just one turnover — a stellar playmaking performance for the first prolonged stretch of playing time of an NBA career. That equates to a 15.4 assists per-36 minutes pace, and an assist percentage of 46.2 percent, which would rank him first on the season, just above Trae Young.
He’s made NBA history in his brief chance, becoming the first player to record eight assists and zero turnovers in less than 20 minutes off the bench in consecutive games, per Basketball-Reference.
Kolek is as pure a point guard as they come — constantly looking to push the pace for easy chances, utilizing every available teammate to their strengths, pressuring the paint to open up perimeter looks, and passing absolute dots in every way you dream of. Pocket passes that zip between defenders in the pick-and-roll, quick touch passes as the defense is rotating, and cross-court bullets to the weak-side corner this Knicks offense is built to create but only realizes through Kolek.
This makes him a natural fit with the starters, who are tremendous scorers off movement and assists but can get sluggish and entranced by hero ball. Kolek directs the traffic, keeps everybody engaged, rewards cuts and hits marksmen in their shooting pockets.
The Knicks can use more of this play-style in general, currently ranking 18th in the league in assist percentage. New York boasting multiple high-level pass-dribble-shoot weapons means little if they over-emphasize the latter two.
While Kolek’s playmaking looks the part, it’ll take developments in the rest of his game to secure minutes once his teammates return to health. His scoring and defense haven’t come around yet, and will need to with the Knicks now relying on him as a part-time starter.
Kolek shot 2-of-10 from the field in these three games, and is sub-36 percent from the field and from three on the season. These aren’t big sample sizes, but teams will start going under and switching on his screens, forcing him to beat them without his passing.
In eight G-League games, Kolek put up underwhelming shooting stats as well — except from the free throw line, where he eclipsed 90 percent. He was a solid shooter in college and had good touch around the rim, but the pros can be a tough leap for less athletic scorers like Kolek.
Things should start turning around as Kolek gets more comfortable. He’s already able to get to the paint at will, and just needs to make the open ones from deep.
But, defensively, there are some things experience can’t make up for. Kolek’s stature does little to impede bigger inside finishers, though the Knicks have similar struggles with their other guards.
He’s otherwise shown good effort and balance on that end, but Thibodeau isn’t handing out participation trophies. He can easily be supplanted by Delon Wright, the Knicks’ next guard up, as he was late in Wednesday’s loss to the Clippers.
That’s all in Kolek’s hands. If he can remain an offensive engine and stand his ground defensively, he has the chance to lift this Knicks team at their most dire moment of the season health-wise, and cement himself as a rotation option for the playoffs.
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