The SummerKnicks beat the SummerPistons 86-75 on Monday, improving to 1-2 in Vegas and briefly resembling a functional basketball team after they didn’t look like one to start their Summer League run.
Jack Kayil looked good, Dillon Jones looked useful, Liam Robbins blocked rocks, and Tyler Nickel kept doing the one thing everyone already knew he could do. Here are some notes in the absence of a proper and needless recap, along with a good deal of links from around the League.
- German rookie Kayil led the Knicks with 19 points, four assists, and three steals in the win over Detroit, shooting 6-of-13 from the field and 3-of-7 from deep. That follows a 12-point debut against San Antonio after missing the opener. Two games in and the 20-year-old already looks less like an automatic stash and more like somebody the Knicks may want around Westchester on a two-way deal.
- Fellow true rookie Nickel made three more threes against Detroit and is now 13-of-29 from deep through three Summer League games, finishing Monday with a 9-6-2 stat line.
- Back-to-back NBA champ Jones had plenty of praise for Kayil afterward, as well as finishing with 18 points, six rebounds, and four assists himself.
- Big boy Robbins finally had himself a game, getting 15 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals, and four blocks. No rookie, this Robbins, at age 27 and very much a backup plan to your favorite backup plan’s backup plan.
- The Knicks were without Mohamed Diawara and Pacome Dadiet against Detroit, with Diawara sidelined by a ring-finger injury and Dadiet out because of foot soreness. In fairness, they probably just sat because of veteranship reasons.
- Dadiet understands he is running out of time, and acknowledged that from Las Vegas. The New York Post got the quotes, and you can read them all in today’s Knicks Bulletin. Didn’t feature this one, but oh my. Per the Post, one NBA GM joked that he “wouldn’t trade a croissant” for Dadiet. Sheesh…
- Patrick Ewing did an exclusive interview with Stefan Bondy and discussed his last days with the Knicks and what’s next for him after taking over the Washington Wizards’ assistant coach job. Tons of interesting stuff from Coach Pat.
“I take my hat off to
the Knicks. Both Leon [Rose] and World Wide Wes and Mr. [James] Dolan have done a great job in terms of what they’ve done in making all of us feel like we’re all a part of everything that’s going on.
“But their [assistant] bench was already stacked. So I think they have some great guys there. I enjoyed being around them, learning from them, picking their brains. So there was not an opportunity there for me. And one was here.”
- Brunson was photographed (h/t Stefan Bondy) for the first time since surgery with his left hand and wrist wrapped and resting in a sling. No panic.
- NYP turned Page Six: Landry Shamet may have picked up a second ring.
- The Knicks still need a third center. Jonas Valanciunas seems to be this close to packing his bags for Europe. The lone viable alternative still in the free-agent market is a former Chicagoan, Sports Illustrated’s Joseph Randazzo pointed out.
- Atlanta Hawks veteran and Knicks villain-for-a-day CJ McCollum said that he already told OG Anunoby during their first-round matchup that New York could win the championship.
- Lazy eye Tracy McGrady with the spicy Jaylen Brown-Joel Embiid take.
- Interesting read from Scoop B putting LBJ and HOV’s career side by side… and floating the upcoming Fanatics Fest (Thursday through Sunday) at the Javits Center in NYC as the perfect stage for the last (?) LeBron decision announcement. For what it’s worth, James is scheduled for a live recording of his “Mind the Game” podcast at 1:15 p.m. EST Thursday.
- NBA Europe is getting more real but perhaps not any better, as the league hired former Bulls executive Arturas Karnisovas as a consultant to put the field of teams and rulebook together. The planned launch is set for October 2027, and bids are ranging from $500 million to $1 billion across cities including London, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Athens, Berlin, and Istanbul.
- Two days after OAKAAK DaQuan Jeffries signed with Besiktas, Westchester Knicks and NBA Bubble legend T.J. Warren inked a deal with Paris Basketball.
- Draymond Green and Udonis Haslem got into it nicely.
- PJ Tucker doesn’t like Andy Vega’s Hoka shoes. I hope he likes mine.
