It’s been an up-and-down journey for Tyler Kolek since the Knicks drafted him 34th overall in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Despite flashes during his rookie season, the 2023 Big East Player of the Year was largely stuck riding the pine with Tom Thibodeau at the helm. He appeared in 41 games, but only played a meaningful role towards the end of the season, during which he struggled. He was an afterthought during last year’s playoff run, and while Knicks fans and brass alike were fans of his potential, they
still weren’t quite sure he was their guy.
Finally, Summer League rolled around, and we got to see again what Kolek could do with the ball in his hands. Spoiler alert: not much. 32/17/84 splits with four turnovers a game was NOT the reassurance people needed. Trade rumors swirled. No one was happy.
Enter Coach Mike Brown, who, amongst other things, is decidedly not Tom Thibodeau. Brown gives guys a shot. He’ll sprinkle in rotation minutes here and there and isn’t afraid to give guys a chance if they earn it. He treats each game as a new day. Earn your spot all over again.
Kolek benefitted from this greatly, getting his legs underneath him and adjusting to the backup playmaker role. Sure, he didn’t impress too much in the box score, but he was getting comfortable and adjusting to meaningful NBA minutes.
When Deuce McBride was injured in early December, it opened the door to even more meaningful minutes. After a couple of quiet games, Kolek burst onto the scene in front of the entire country: the NBA Cup finals.
Stay. Ready.
14/5/5 and +14 in 20 minutes? Not a bad day to have a day.
This was far from a one-game wonder, too – Kolek followed it up with 16 points and 11 assists against the Indiana Pacers.
After two quieter games against the Sixers and Heat (in which he still played a combined 37 minutes), Kolek followed it all up with his biggest statistical game to date last night in his first start as a pro: 20 points, 11 boards, and 8 dimes. 31 minutes of play.
Wowza.
Folks, until Kolek’s big NBA Cup day, his effectiveness at this level was all purely hypothetical. But he’s looked comfortable as both a scorer and playmaker with the ball in his hands, and I’m not worried about his shooting struggles from deep at the moment.
Brown has picked up on this, too – he’s been playing down the stretch of games since then. When the game is in the balance, Kolek is trusted to deliver. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of his contributions as the season goes along.
The biggest reason for this? The Kolek/Brunson backcourt has actually worked so far. The two have held their own defensively while sharing the court, and if that’s a rotation that Brown is comfortable with, he won’t be forced to decide between the two – he can simply roll with both.
What remains to be seen is how rotations might adjust with the return of McBride, who should be back soon from an ankle injury.
Either way, the evidence up to this point is damning. Kolek will be a part of the Knicks’ rotation, and if he can keep up the impressive play, he will be a contributor to a championship hopeful come playoff time.
