So many believe the New York Knicks will prioritize upgrading their ball-handling and playmaking behind Jalen Brunson ahead of the February 5 trade deadline. Jordan Clarkson isn’t doing anything to make them rethink that approach.
Tyler Kolek, on the other hand, might be.
Though the 24-year-old has not been what you’d call an active participant in the rotation, Deuce McBride’s ankle injury, coupled with the unevenness of Jordan Clarkson, has opened the door for him to soak up more minutes over the past few games. And he’s making the most of the opportunity.
Tyler Kolek may be turning a corner
Kolek is easily working through his best stretch with the Knicks. Over his past 11 appearances, he’s averaging 6.9 assists per 36 minutes, while downing 60 percent of his twos.
The outside shooting remains a concern. He has converted just 6-of-18 three-point attempts during this span (33.3 percent). But the passing pops, including his knack for finding Karl-Anthony Towns. Kolek, in fact, is assisting on 27.2 percent of all New York’s buckets during this stretch when he’s on the floor—the highest mark on the team.
Granted, the Knicks aren’t blowing opponents out of the water with the 24-year-old in the game. But they are a plus-eight overall since he re-entered the rotation. And they just outscored the Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic by a combined 31 points during Kolek’s minutes in the NBA Cup quarterfinals and semifinals.
Such dramatic domination of course isn’t sustainable. Kolek’s ability to table-set for others has nevertheless always rendered him an intriguing option to run the offense when Brunson catches a breather.
Entering this season, there was some hope Clarkson might pick up some of that slack. He has instead become more dependent on playing alongside Brunson. The Knicks have lost the minutes he’s logged without JB, while posting an offensive rating that would rank in the bottom five.
On the flip side, New York has decidedly won the minutes Kolek plays without Brunson. The offensive rating in these spans isn’t elite, but it’s higher than in Clarkson’s solo minutes.
What’s more, the scoring output skyrockets when Kolek and Towns play together. KAT is actually pumping in 32.9 points per 100 possessions while shooting 54.8 percent on twos and 38.5 percent on triples next to Kolek when they play without JB. We cannot say the same when he’s beside Clarkson.
Kolek could convince the Knicks to tinker with their trade-deadline wish list
Between Kolek’s mini emergence and the recent play of Towns when he’s at center, we could be watching a real-time shift in New York’s trade-deadline approach.
Sure, another veteran ball-handler would be nice. Ditto for a big man who head coach Mike Brown trusts more than Guerschon Yabusele and Ariel Hukporti, and who’s more reliably available than Mitchell Robinson. But there’s now a chance the Knicks have the solutions to both issues starting them right in the face.
This, in turn, could free them up to explore the market for a bigger wing. Maybe it lets them pursue a reunion with a certain deadeye sniper. It may also change nothing at all.
Still, the mere chance that Kolek’s play could impact anything at all is a stark departure from where we were before. It wasn’t long ago that he seemed like a certified trade-deadline goner.
Now, he could be a quiet reason why the Knicks take their midseason-transaction approach in an entirely different direction.
