More than they needed to know if they picked up a second-round gem, the New York Knicks entered the Las Vegas Summer League needing to know whether Pacome Dadiet could ever turn into a rotation player for them. A couple of games into Sin City’s showcase, they have their answer.
He can’t. Not now. And probably not even later.
This is not a conclusion drawn solely from Dadiet’s latest two exhibitions. It is a verdict years in the making.
The 20-year-old very much appeared to be on the roster bubble entering the 2025-26 campaign. He ended up sticking through the title run, but after two nondescript seasons collecting dust on the bench, the 25th overall pick from 2024 needed to make a big statement in Vegas.
As it turns out, he’s doing just that. It’s just not the profound message he’s supposed to be sending.
Pacome Dadiet is struggling to deliver on his biggest strength
For so long, we have heard about Daidet’s potential as a jump-shooter. Few will soon forget the mythical lore of his practice efficiency.
This touch from the perimeter has yet to translate into actual games. Dadiet is shooting 25.5 percent from beyond the arc for his career, and is just 2-of-13 from distance (15.4 percent) through two games in Vegas.
That doesn’t bode well for the third-year forward who specifically cited improving his three-point clip and playing harder as his primary focuses. To his credit, we have seen him be more active defensively and on the glass. That fits into the “play harder” box. But he won’t be in line for minutes with the big club if he can’t pump in baskets more efficiently.
With his contract guaranteed through this season, Dadiet technically has time to hit the right notes, and turn some heads. Except, what if he doesn’t?
The Knicks may have found their Dadiet replacement
The emergence of Tyler Nickel in Vegas is by far the second-biggest development of New York’s Sin City stay. Drafted 47th overall, the 6’7” 22-year-old is shooting 44.8 percent from three on preposterous volume. He has taken no fewer than eight threes in a single game, and is getting them off at a rate of roughly 12.7 points per 36 minutes.
Nickel is not on a guaranteed contract. Assuming he signs for the rookie minimum of $1.4 million, though, he’ll be earning less than half of Dadiet’s $3 million.
This isn’t to say the Knicks will cut the latter. They won’t. But it increases the likelihood that Dadiet’s salary gets used in a trade to bring back a big man. Failing that, he could wind up buried behind Nickel and Mohamed Diawara in the depth chart, effectively guaranteeing he never sees the light of day.
Even if the Knicks don’t give Nickel a contract, it doesn’t change Dadiet’s trajectory—or lack thereof—with the organization. If nothing else, his summer-league performance juices the odds of New York declining his $5.4 million team option for 2027-28. Though that number could be a useful salary-match in trades, a team tasked with navigating around the second apron can’t shell out over $5 million for someone with zero standalone value.
Perhaps this turns out to be a premature declaration of Dadiet’s exit. That would be ideal. And yet, if he can’t distinguish himself as a third-year player at summer league, there’s little reason to believe he has a future on these Knicks—or in the NBA at large.
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