Entering Sunday morning, the Knicks were the only team in basketball that had not filled one of their three two-way spots. Hell, they were the only team to have more than one open two-way spot, having all three of them open.
There’s no method or reason why it took this long, but the Knicks finally did it. They’ve filled two of their two-way spots by signing Tyler Nickel and Kevin McCullar Jr. on Sunday morning.
Nickel, selected No. 47 overall in this June’s draft, has been in a weird limbo all summer where nobody really knew what was going on.
Drafted out of Vanderbilt after previous stops at UNC and Virginia Tech, Nickel is a 6’8” three-point specialist who was one of college basketball’s best shooters in each of the last two seasons, shooting an even 40% on nearly seven attempts per game in his two years as a starter at Vandy. He showed that much with his electric play in Summer League.
It has been a question of what his role would be as a rookie. The Knicks’ second apron aversion made it impossible to realistically sign him to a standard contract, so it’s been assumed for several months that he would eventually ink a two-way contract, but that wasn’t always set in stone. The brief 5-in-5 injunction would’ve given Nickel a chance to return to college and cash in on bigger NIL checks, but that window closed after a few weeks due to the NCAA’s appeal.
With Nickel on a two-way, expect him to spend a lot of the year in Westchester, but also get a chance to show he can hoop at this level during the dog days of January and February, when the defending champs will be shorthanded for games and stretches.
While Nickel is an unknown in a Knicks uniform so far, we’ve seen McCullar plenty over the last two years.
The former No. 55 overall pick in 2024 out of Kansas, McCullar will be spending his third consecutive season on a two-way contract with the Knicks, hoping to show enough to earn a full-time roster spot by 2027-28.
Recurring knee injuries limited McCullar to four games as a rookie and just a few G League appearances, but he was healthy and effective when called upon in his second season, playing 21 games and putting together some strong individual performances, namely a 13-point masterpiece on December 27 in Atlanta.
He’s another guy who will get his ring in person on October 20, so that’s cool. He fits in a similar role to Nickel as a deep reserve wing who will compete with Pacome Dadiet to be the next man up if one of the key wings (starters + Mo Diawara) misses time.
This officially fills up the 21-man training camp roster, as big man N’Faly Dante (who’s recovering from an ACL tear) was signed to an Exhibit 10. Here’s the group:
Standard contracts (13):
Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns, Deuce McBride, Jose Alvarado, Landry Shamet, Andre Drummond, Jordan Clarkson, Tyler Kolek, Pacome Dadiet, Mo Diawara
Exhibit 9/10 deals (6):
Drew Eubanks, John Konchar, Bruce Brown, Ochai Agbaji, James Wiseman, N’Faly Dante
Two-ways (2):
Tyler Nickel, Kevin McCullar Jr.
The Knicks will only be able to have 14 standard contracts if they want to stay below the second apron, barring a trade. They will also fill the two-way spot at some point.
