Don't look now, but New York Knicks' guard Tyler Kolek has seemingly re-entered the team's rotation. Amid injuries to both OG Anunoby and Landry Shamet, head coach Mike Brown has been taking depth pieces where he can get them. That has grown to include the second-year guard in Kolek, who has received significantly increased minutes over the last four games. After the team's win over the Milwaukee Bucks in their fourth game of the NBA Cup group stage, Brown revealed to reporters in New York that he wishes he could have played Kolek even more.
Knicks' injury troubles have given Kolek opportunity
Brown surprised some Knick fans by starting the regular season with Kolek in his rotation. The sophomore guard averaged 12 minutes per game over the team's first four contests, averaging about five points and two assists. However, he played just 19 total minutes over his next six appearances on the court. It seemed that Brown had fully moved away from him as a rotational piece and hoped to only play him in 'garbage time.'
After Anunoby and Shamet were sidelined with thigh and shoulder injuries, though, Kolek seems to have earned another chance. The point guard played 17 minutes against both the Orlando Magic and Brooklyn Nets before 15 and 10 minute deployments respectively against the Charlotte Hornets and Bucks in NBA Cup play.
Kolek is averaging 5.5 points, one rebound, and 2.5 assists per game over the short stretch of play. He has also made eight of 16 shots and three of his seven 3-point attempts over the course of those games. After a five-point, two-steal outing against the Bucks, Brown said that he wishes he had played Kolek more than just 10 minutes.
“I didn’t play him as much as I wanted to tonight, but the last two games, when he’s gotten minutes, he’s been really good defensively. He’s been really physical without fouling. He’s been really good pushing the basketball and distributing the basketball while getting us into our offense. I expect nothing but that from him and again I wished I’d played him a little longer," the winning coach told reporters at Madison Square Garden.
Kolek could stay in rotation even as Knicks get healthy
While the guard's resurgence in the team's regular rotation seems to be a result of injuries to key veterans, it's worth nothing that neither Anunoby nor Shamet bring Kolek's playmaking to the Knicks' offense. Brown's higher-paced style of play gives the 24-year-old guard opportunities to shine by making good reads in the flow of the offense.
Kolek also gives New York ball handling that they really only have otherwise in Jalen Brunson, Jordan Clarkson, and Deuce McBride. If one of those guys gets hurt, even just for a short amount of time, Kolek's ability to get the team into its sets and handle the basketball becomes even more important.
The second-round pick continuing to play in the regular season doesn't legally obligate Brown to deploy him in the playoffs. It could, however, give the coach another playmaker and help him through other potential injuries to key pieces.
There's only one way for the Knicks to truly find out what they have in Kolek, and that's to play him. We'll see how he does as these games continue to unfold.