Knicks Stay Busy And Get Their Guy

Unfortunately, Isaiah Hartenstein may be slipping away...

The Knicks entered the 2024 draft with the #24, #25 and #38 overall picks. 

After seemingly dozens of trades, the Knicks exited the 2024 draft with:
🏀 Pacome Dadiet (an enticing, athletic draft-and-stash 18-year-old)
🏀 Tyler Kolek (a gritty, proven, productive, plug-and-play backup PG)
🏀 Kevin McCullar Jr. (an NBA-ready 6'7 wing who averaged 18.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists last season while also being named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team)
🏀 Ariel Hukporti (a physical 22-year-old rim-protecting center)
🏀 $1.5 million in cash and three additional future second-round picks in their pocket 

Here are the details of the Round Two transactions:  

• New York acquired the draft rights to Tyler Kolek, the 34th overall pick, from Portland in exchange for three future second-round picks and the draft rights to Daniel Diez.

• New York acquired the 40th overall pick and cash considerations from Oklahoma City in exchange for the draft rights to Ajay Mitchell, the 38th overall pick.

• New York acquired the draft rights to Kevin McCullar Jr., the 56th overall pick and a future second-round pick from Phoenix in exchange for the draft rights to Oso Ighodaro, the 40th overall pick.

• New York acquired the draft rights to Ariel Hukporti, the 58th overall pick, the draft rights to Petteri Koponen and cash considerations from Dallas in exchange for the draft rights to Melvin Ajinca, the 51st overall pick.

That's a solid day of business by Leon Rose and the Knicks front office. 

We'll spend plenty of time in the weeks ahead and throughout this summer discussing what all three second-round picks could potentially bring to New York next season and beyond, but today, we'll focus on the PG from Marquette. 

It had been rumored for months that the Knicks had a strong interest in Kolek. Plenty of pundits predicted New York would select him with one of their first-round picks. He was clearly a guy they were hoping to bring into the organization. And for good reason. New York needs a reliable, steady backup PG behind Brunson, and Kolek possesses many characteristics that Leon Rose and Tom Thibodeau value. 

Tyler Kolek grew up in Cumberland, Rhode Island and was born into a basketball family. His father, Kevin, now a retired police officer, was named the Little East Conference Player during his playing days at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Tyler was named the Rhode Island Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year as a high school junior but didn't receive any offers from top-tier D1 colleges. No Big East or Power Five conference program recruited Kolek. He ended up choosing George Mason over other mid-majors, such as Holy Cross, Elon, Northeastern, and Vermont.

Kolek started his freshman season at George Mason coming off the bench but was promoted to the starting lineup by the team's fourth game. He ended his debut campaign by being named the Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Year after averaging 10.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. However, when Mason's head coach, Dave Paulsen, was fired after the season, Kolek entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Several big-time teams pursued Kolek as his stock was on the rise. He landed at Marquette and immediately made his presence felt. Stepping into the starting lineup right away, Kolek led the Big East with 5.9 assists per game in his first season. The following year, as a junior during the 2022-23 season, Kolek established himself as an NCAA star, and NBA teams took notice.

That season, he averaged 12.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals and a conference-leading 7.9 assists (which ranked second nationally) while committing just 2.5 turnovers. Kolek ranked first in the Big East in assist/turnover ratio at 3.3 (sixth nationally). He then went on to lead the Golden Eagles to the league's tournament title (their first since 1997 when they were members of Conference USA) and was awarded the tourney's Most Outstanding Player award. 

That March, Kolek was named the Big East Player of the Year. Remarkably, before the season, he wasn't among the ten players selected (via a vote among the league's head coaches) for a spot on either the Preseason All-Big East First Team or Second Team. He wasn't even included among the three players to receive an honorable mention. The league's coaches picked the Golden Eagles to finish ninth in the conference. Kolek was asked about the perceived disrespect during the team's media day in October 2022. His response? "F*ck 'em," which became a battle cry for the Golden Eagles throughout their championship run. 

As a senior this past season, Kolek averaged 15.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 7.7 assists (which led the entire nation), 1.5 made three-pointers and 1.6 steals. Once again, he was remarkably efficient on the offensive end, shooting 49.6% from the floor, 38.8% from downtown and 85.1% from the charity stripe. 

Per Basketball Reference, he is the first NCAA player in over 30 years to average more than 15 points and seven assists per game while also slashing at least 49/38/85%.