The New York Knicks need to build their depth this offseason in free agency. With a championship window currently opened, the Knicks need to find role players that will help make a championship dream come to reality.
As of now, the Knicks expected backup point guard going into next season is 23-year-old Tyler Kolek. Miles McBride and free agent signee Jordan Clarkson should get more playing time than Kolek, they are not point guards.
In his rookie season, Kolek averaged just 2.0 points per game in 41 games played. In the G league, Kolek scored 18 per game while also averaging 9.8 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game.
However, his performance in the NBA Summer League this year has been very underwhelming for a player that is meant to backup a star point guard in Jalen Brunson. In the Knicks most recent Summer League game against the Boston Celtics, Kolek scored just three points on 1-for-13 shooting, including missing on all six of his three-point shot attempts.
It may be easy to overreact to his performance this summer thus far, but his performance in his appearances in the Knick uniform last season indicate that New York needs to find a veteran guard on the market as soon as possible.
In the case that Brunson got hurt, Kolek, who is entering his second season, does not have the professional experience to run the Knicks’ offense to the level that Brunson or a veteran guard can.