The New York Knicks are reportedly trying to keep both Malcolm Brogdon and Landry Shamet on the roster to start the 2025-26 season. One way or another, this desire is going to determine Tyler Kolek's future with the team.
With just $3.7 million separating them from the second apron, the Knicks do not have enough room to guarantee two veteran minimum contracts. Each deal would be on their cap sheet for $2.3 million apiece, bringing the total raw salary to $4.6 million.
This makes a cost-cutting move inevitable if New York is serious about retaining both Brogdon and Shamet. As Jake Fischer reports for The Stein Line, the front office is starting to “weigh various trade scenarios” that carve out the space required to fit two more veteran deals on the docket.
Pacome Dadiet’s name is specifically floated by Fischer, who notes that the 20-year-old can be effortlessly rerouted elsewhere. This seems to imply that Kolek is safe. Except, it’s not that simple.
Tyler Kolek is not out of the woods yet
The Knicks are hopelessly, verging on hilariously shallow at the wing spots. OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart are the only players on the roster who fit the bill—aside from Dadiet.
This doesn’t mean that the sophomore is in line for a big role. New York has already made it clear that he’s not. But the same goes for Kolek.
Prioritizing guards on the open market says all we need to know about the club’s plans for the 24-year-old. The interest in Brogdon is especially telltale. The Knicks would not be attempting to squeeze him onto their cap sheet if they thought Kolek or even Deuce McBride could effectively handle backup point guard responsibilities.
One look at the depth chart, and the notion that New York should offload one of its few remaining wings to make room for more guards becomes laughable. If its dead set on pivoting in the veteran-guard direction, Kolek should be considered the obvious salary-dump candidate.
The Knicks are about to render a verdict on Kolek
Regardless of how this pans out, we are about to know what the Knicks really think of the No. 34 pick from the 2024 draft.
If he sticks on the roster as part of the two-veteran plan, it will speak to the long-term faith the organization still has in him. After all, keeping him when they're desperate for secondary wings is nothing if not a massive vote of confidence in his big-picture outlook.
On the flip side, if the Knicks are even thinking about turning him into collateral damage to lock down not a sixth man, but an eighth, ninth, or 10th man, it will confirm what many already suspect: that they don’t believe Kolek can be an NBA rotation player anytime soon.