Knicks summer-league preview: What to watch from Tyler Kolek, Pacôme Dadiet and more

New York Times

a day ago

And just like that, New York Knicks basketball is back — sort of.
The Knicks will join the rest of the NBA this week to begin Las Vegas Summer League play. New York's roster will feature some intriguing players, all with something to prove as new head coach Mike Brown will sit on the baseline and evaluate some of the young talent he will inherit. From a Knicks perspective, the stars of the annual event will be Tyler Kolek, Pacôme Dadiet, Ariel Hukporti, Kevin McCullar Jr. and recently-drafted Mohamed Diawara.
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There shouldn't be overreactions either way when it comes to how these names perform. However, with New York hoping to develop its young talent a bit more next season under Brown, a first impression can go a long way.
Here's what I'll be focusing on from the five key players who will play for the Knicks.
As far as true point guards go, Kolek is the only one on the Knicks' bench at this point in the offseason. Kolek will be a solid pro one day, but there is work to be done for the 24-year-old guard.
Kolek played under 300 minutes last year as a rookie, which is not enough time to make any sweeping conclusions about how he projects long term. However, when Kolek was on the floor, he did a good job of running the offense and setting up his teammates. He finished with 70 assists and just 18 turnovers in 41 games (albeit a small sample size).
In Las Vegas, I want to see Kolek create and hunt his own shot. I know he can pass and do point-guard things. In today's NBA, it's hard to be successful as a lead guard without being a threat to score. Kolek's 70 assists as a rookie was only slightly under the number of shot attempts he took (82). In college, Kolek averaged a hair over 15 points as a senior. He took over 11 shots per game while still averaging nearly eight assists. He has that balance somewhere in there.
It's possible that Kolek's lack of shot attempts last season was a product of doing what the coaching staff asked of him. It's also possible that the rookie just didn't want to use his limited playing time to be ultra-aggressive as a scorer and, potentially, upset his coach. Well, summer league is the time to try things out, get comfortable and see what you can get away with.
Let me lead with this: Dadiet will turn 20 shortly after summer league comes to a close. By no means does he have to be close to a finished product anytime soon. However, I think it's important for him to show progress sooner rather than later so that the franchise can feel comfortable investing real reps into him during a championship-or-bust season.
Dadiet, like Kolek, intrigues me. The shooting form is good. The defense even popped at times last year — Dadiet had one of my five favorite individual defensive moments by a Knick last season.
PACOME DADIET LOCK DOWN DEFENSE pic.twitter.com/yWii4mr6bf
— KnicksNation (@KnicksNation) November 18, 2024
There is stuff there worth looking deeper into, but Dadiet needs to use summer league to show that he can do things consistently. He only played in 18 games last year for the Knicks and fewer than 115 minutes, so there is very little to take from his experience with the main ballclub. In the G League, where he played significantly more, he had underwhelming shooting numbers. The 19-year-old only shot 40.6 percent from the field and 31.9 percent from 3 in 14 games with Westchester. Again, he's a teenager and doesn't need to be perfect, but given that he had already played professional basketball in a respectable league before getting drafted, you'd like to see some consistency in the G League.
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The 6-foot-7 Dadiet, along with McCullar, may have the easiest pathway of the young players to meaningful minutes with the Knicks. Teams are always looking for 3-and-D wings. Coaches are always willing to play them. He has to show he's worth investing real minutes into as soon as next season, and that might start with his performance in Las Vegas.
Behind Kolek, no rookie played more than Hukporti (217 minutes) last season, and it's possible Hukporti would have surpassed Kolek in total minutes played had he not suffered a knee injury in the middle of the year that forced him to miss months.
Hukporti had some impressive stints as a rookie. Most were in short bursts but enough to understand why former head coach Tom Thibodeau would give the 23-year-old center legit rotation minutes here and there. Hukporti, who stands 6 feet 11, moves well for a big man. I think he anticipates well defensively. He can get off the ground quickly to deter shots. He was always asking questions of his teammates. There is stuff to like about Hukporti.
I want to see him physically dominate at summer league. I don't mean average 20 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks or anything. That's not realistic. I want to see him contest any shot near him at the basket. I want him to make offensive players think twice about attacking him at the rim when he's near it. I want to see him set hard, crisp screens. I want to see him be a hard roller and lob threat. I want to see him rebound like someone who already has NBA experience.
Hukporti didn't play a ton as a rookie but he did play more meaningful minutes out of any of the other youngsters. And like Dadiet, he was a pro player before coming to the NBA. Hukporti should have a leg-up on many of the players he'll be going against in Las Vegas. You'd like to see that experience reveal itself.
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McCullar's basketball career as of late has been halted due to lower-body injuries. He was hurt as he finished up his college career at Kansas and spent most of his rookie season rehabbing with the Knicks.
He's a 6-foot-6 wing who came into the NBA as an older prospect. Many scouts and executives around the league viewed him as someone who can do a few things well, but nothing great. McCullar averaged 18 points per game as a senior at Kansas but never averaged more than 10 in his three college seasons prior. He also never shot better than 33 percent from 3 in four years at college. However, McCullar was a savvy college player who did well moving without the ball and in the open floor. He had solid defensive moments in college despite his lack of athleticism. McCullar, who played many roles in college, plays in a way that is better in a team concept than as an individual, which is good. But unless the shooting translates — he shot 22.2 percent from 3 in 13 G League games last year — it's hard to see how he carves out a role for himself.
To show what he can do, though, McCullar has to prove he can stay healthy. The best way to work on your game and impress decision-makers is to be out there playing. With hopes of sticking with the Knicks for one more season, the 24-year-old needs to show that he can make it to the end of Las Vegas healthy and be around to show off his game this summer.
first nba points for kevin mccullar jr 🎉 pic.twitter.com/0O5QwjNU8y
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 26, 2025
The Knicks drafted the French prospect with the No. 51 pick in June, and his contract status won't be determined for at least a few weeks. Per league sources, there is a good chance Diawara ends up being a draft-and-stash prospect this year, but he also has an opportunity to show at summer league that he's worth a two-way slot and should stay around the franchise this season.
I'm not going to sit here and act like I'm super familiar with Diawara's game. I know that he's huge, as he stands 6 feet 8 with a 7-foot-4 wingspan and a 9-foot-2 standing reach.
This is what The Athletic's Sam Vecenie had to say about Diawara on draft night:
'The idea here begins and ends on the defensive end, where he's genuinely quite impactful due to his athleticism and length. He flies around and moves well laterally on the perimeter but he's not nearly the shot blocker or contester that you expect for someone this size. My bet is that he doesn't end up making it over, but I get the bet on these tools, at least.'
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This is what our John Hollinger also had to say about Diawara:
'Diawara is a 6-8 forward who had a rather underwhelming season as a 20-year-old in the French league, but he does raise the Knicks' total to 16 overseas-rights players under their control … including the rights to Luka Mitrović that were obtained when the Knicks swapped picks 50 and 51 with the Clippers. Like nearly all of them, there seems little chance Diawara will play in the NBA.'
So, can Diawara prove everyone wrong, have a tantalizing summer league and earn a two-way spot? We'll see.
(Photo of Tyler Kolek: Nathaniel S. Butler /NBAE via Getty Images)