Tyler Kolek making his case for a permanent spot in Knicks' rotation

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As much as injuries hurt a team, they can also open up opportunities for otherwise bench-relegated players to step up. The Knicks witnessed this firsthand with Quentin Grimes’ rookie emergence and Isaiah Hartenstein’s breakout last year.

Now they appear to have found another diamond in the rough, their 34th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Tyler Kolek.

The 6-foot-1 guard dazzled at Marquette but up until recently, most of his professional playing time with has come with Westchester, only sporadically being subbed in during garbage time minutes with the Knicks.

This isn’t surprising, given head coach Tom Thibodeau’s commitment to winning over long-term goals and New York’s established depth at the guard spot in Jalen Brunson, Miles McBride and Cameron Payne.

However, Kolek’s played close to 20 minutes in each of the last three games due to two of those guards being out — and now all three will be absent for Friday's matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks — setting the stage for Kolek to continue shining in increased minutes.

If he plays as well as he has, Kolek could earn himself a permanent rotation spot. 

In the 56 minutes he’s played over the last three games, Kolek’s recorded 24 assists and just one turnover — a stellar playmaking performance for the first prolonged stretch of playing time of an NBA career. That equates to a 15.4 assists per-36 minutes pace, and an assist percentage of 46.2 percent, which would rank him first on the season, just above Trae Young. 

He’s made NBA history in his brief chance, becoming the first player to record eight assists and zero turnovers in less than 20 minutes off the bench in consecutive games, per Basketball-Reference.

Kolek is as pure a point guard as they come — constantly looking to push the pace for easy chances, utilizing every available teammate to their strengths, pressuring the paint to open up perimeter looks, and passing absolute dots in every way you dream of. Pocket passes that zip between defenders in the pick-and-roll, quick touch passes as the defense is rotating, and cross-court bullets to the weak-side corner this Knicks offense is built…

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Source link : https://sny.tv/articles/tyler-kolek-permanent-knicks-rotation-spot

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Publish date : 2025-03-28 13:59:00

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