The New York Knicks traded away their top three homegrown talent players in the past nine months. It started in December when New York sent RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to Toronto. Less than two months later, the Knicks traded Quentin Grimes to the Pistons.
Miles McBride, Mitchell Robinson, and (maybe) Jericho Sims are the only three nine-man rotation players that the Knicks drafted. McBride is the youngest (24) and most promising. He signed an extension hours after the Barrett and Quickley trade. McBride impressed in the second half of the season as he morphed from a defensive pest to a two-way player.
Even with McBride's ascension, New York sorely missed Quickley. The Knicks lost their backup floor general. McBride isn't the ballhandler that Quickley is. The front office tried to address that need by trading for Alec Burks at the deadline, but that deal didn't work out.
However, Leon Rose hit the ball out of the park this summer at the NBA draft. New York traded up in the second round for the No. 34 pick, which the team used to draft Tyler Kolek. Years from now, people could look back at the 2024 draft and refer to Kolek as the steal of the draft. His future is that promising.
Knicks got the steal of the draft in point guard Tyler Kolek
New York fans got their first glimpse of Kolek's potential at Summer League in Las Vegas. He commanded the offense as if he were an experienced veteran. There's a reason the front office was enthralled by Kolek throughout the draft process.
He won't start the season in the rotation, but he wasn't expected to. That doesn't mean that the Knicks don't value Kolek, but rather that they're not an organization that immediately throws rookies under the bright lights.
New York signed Cam Payne to a one-year deal this summer. SNY's Ian Begley reported that the Knicks valued his playoff experience. Like Kolek, the veteran won't start the season in the rotation. McBride is Brunson's backup. However, it's telling that Begley reported Kolek is ahead of Payne on the depth chart.
Losing Barrett, IQ, and Grimes might still sting for some fans, but the Kolek addition has helped with the pain. Kolek and the three other rookies will make training camp and preseason more interesting. The point guard might even get MVP chants at MSG during the preseason. That might be a stretch, but he's already a fan favorite.
There are several fun Knicks storylines to follow this season, and one of them is Kolek. Watching him progress will be exciting, especially for a team that didn't have a rookie last season.