The New York Knicks have a center playing for Baylor University. Soon, they might also have a wing playing for Kentucky.
Despite having played in two different NBA Summer Leagues for two different teams, James Nnaji was able to sign with the Bears back in December because he had never signed an actual NBA contact. The big man played professionally in Spain before being drafted, but hadn't spent any time on an NBA roster (or at an American university).
The loophole left him eligible to join Baylor's roster and pave the way for an immensely controversial wave of signings in the coming weeks: Charles Bediako and Thierry Darlan both had experience playing in the G-League before joining Alabama and Santa Clara's rosters, respectively.
Now, it seems like the Knicks are likely to see another young player in their developmental system opt to take their talents back to the books. Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope spent at least part of his Saturday at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, New York, to watch 20-year-old Westchester Knick Dink Pate take on the Windy City Bulls in his third season as a G-League player.
Knicks primed to see another young player hit the proverbial books
Pate started out on the G-League Ignite, where Jason Hart served as his head coach. Hart, who spent last season as an assistant on Pope's staff at Kentucky, was seemingly in the process of trying to help bring Pate to Lexington.
Pate told Kentucky Sports Radio's Jacob Polacheck in January that he'd be a Wildcat if the program would have him, but now Kentucky is Hart-less. The coach was just named the Associate Head Basketball Coach at Southern Methodist University. But Pope is clearly not giving up on trying to recruit the talented youngster.
Mark Pope just pulled a World Wide Wes on the Knicks themselves
When William Wesley and Julius Randle were the Executive Vice President and only All-Star player on the Knicks, they ruffled plenty of feathers with a courtside appearance at a playoff game between the Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks.
Donovan Mitchell and Jalen Brunson were set to do battle on a major stage, and the Knicks were trying to get in the business of adding at least one of them to their roster. It seems like Pope just made a strikingly similar move in his quest to land Pate's talents in Lexington.
This is the "Wild West" of sports. It will certainly be interesting to see how these matters are discussed, and ruled on, as time progresses. For now, though, the Knicks might just have to keep finding out the hard way that nobody seems to be safe.