As then-Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers famously said back in 2014, R-E-L-A-X.
That should be the prevailing thought after a miserable summer league performance from the Knicks on Friday. New York fell 91-65 to the Nets in its Las Vegas Summer League opener. It was certainly different than nearly a month ago when the Knicks were last seen on the court, eventually hoisting up the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
Alas, there is a stark difference between the Las Vegas Summer League and the NBA Finals. The Knicks’ performance against Brooklyn was tough on the eyes. That certainly wasn't the case during the spring, when the team went a dominant16-3 en route to winning their first championship since 1973. But Friday's performance, while not a good one, should be of no concern to any fan.
Knicks summer league roster far different than one that won the title
Jalen Brunson. Mikal Bridges. Josh Hart. OG Anuboby. Karl-Anthony Towns. Miles McBride. Landry Shamet. Jose Alvarado. Jordan Clarkson. Mitchell Robinson (now on the Celtics). Those are the 10 guys who were in the rotation for non-garbage time minutes during New York’s title run, and none of them are playing in summer league.
The summer league roster consists of two players (Mohamed Diawara and Pacome Dadiet) who logged a total of 83 minutes in their 19 playoff games. Those minutes only came because 11 of the Knicks’ first 12 wins were by double figures.
Sure, it would have been nice to see Diawara have a better performance. The 2025 second-round pick made just one of his nine field goal tries, including a 1-of-6 clip on three-pointers. He seems to be the only guy currently on the summer league squad with a realistic chance to play a role next season.
Imagine if Tyler Nickel didn’t play for New York on Friday. The Knicks finished the outing with shooting numbers of 28 percent from the field, and 23 percent from beyond the arc. That is with last month’s second-round pick—taken 47th overall coming out of Vanderbilt—going 6-of-10 from three-point distance. Meanwhile, the rest of the team went 3-of 29.
String music 🎯
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) July 11, 2026
Tyler Nickel knocked down SIX triples pic.twitter.com/y2wCQgUFo5
The final score from Friday says that the Knicks lost by 26 points, and scored just 65 points. But following an NBA championship, summer league feels less important to Knicks fans than it has in quite some time. After all, New York’s championship odds for 2026-27 certainly won’t change because of this performance.
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