Steve Popper: Knicks' Mike Brown likes what he is seeing from Tyler Kolek
Knicks guard Tyler Kolek gestures after making a three-point basket against the Bulls during the second half of an NBA basketball game on Wednesday in Chicago. Credit: AP/David Banks
PHILADELPHIA — With Tyler Kolek thrust into the Knicks' rotation, Mike Brown was asked before Friday night's game what he has seen from him — 21 assists without a turnover entering the NBA Cup pool play game against the 76ers.
“Tyler is an NBA player,” Brown said.
That might seem like a very measured compliment, but not when you consider that the most memorable part of the Knicks' championship parade last June was police trying to get the slender 6-2, long-haired Kolek outside the barricades, not believing he actually was a part of the team.
That is life on the fringes of the NBA rotation. Since joining the Knicks as a second-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Kolek has had to fight for his chances, but he has been something more than the end-of-the-bench player getting the garbage-time calls from the Madison Square Garden fans, the sort of human victory cigar some players have been.
Last season, he was a big part of the Knicks' run to the NBA Cup title, including a huge performance in the championship win over the San Antonio Spurs. With the Knicks beginning NBA Cup pool play Friday night, that is a fitting thing to remember. But when the Knicks obtained Jose Alvarado at the trade deadline last season, Kolek lost his backup point guard minutes, already a limited opportunity behind Jalen Brunson.
At times last season, including in the NBA Finals, the Knicks flourished with Alvarado paired with Brunson in the backcourt. And with Alvarado out with an ankle sprain that sidelined him for a fourth straight game Friday, Kolek not only helped spur a comeback from a 19-point deficit on Wednesday in Chicago but, at the suggestion of Rick Brunson, remained on the floor when Jalen Brunson came back in and delivered the Knicks to a second straight win.
Kolek's 21 assists in the first five games of the season came in only 45 minutes of action. He had nine points and nine assists in 18 minutes on Wednesday. On Friday, he had four assists and two turnovers in 12:38 in the Knicks' 98-93 loss to the 76ers.
“He can play,” Brown said. “And he knows this, I told him. He’s got to continue to — guys are going to come at him, just because of who he is and being a young guy. And so he doesn’t have to necessarily get by guys all the time. But he’s got to get us into our offense. He’s got to be able to run a team even if somebody is up in his chest. And if somebody is up in his chest, he’s crafty enough to go by him. So hey, go by him and make the right play.
“He’s a point guard, as you can see, and his instincts and feel make something that he’s doing in my opinion not over the top. He’s more than capable of playmaking the way he’s doing, and he’s doing it in a way that’s simple because he’s not trying to make a home run pass all the time to get a guy an assist. He’s doing it within the framework of our offense, and that just adds to his feel and intelligence and craft at that position.”
When Kolek first arrived with the Knicks, he said he modeled his game more in the style of Brunson than the comps that people tried to set for him. He averaged 15.3 points per game and shot 38.8% from three-point range in his final season with Marquette, but with the Knicks, he has focused more on getting teammates the ball with his slick passing skills.
“Not trying to make the home run play,” Kolek told reporters after the win in Chicago. “Just trying to get us in the offense, get the best shot for our team. It’s about being more mature in my game. Trying to take care of the ball, that’s what the team needs. When I go in there, I can’t be turning it over, I can’t be throwing it all over the floor. Got to get us in the offense, got to get us good shots.”
Said Brown, “I don’t look at it as a lost art because the league is evolving. It’s evolved into scoring point guards, just like it’s evolved into 7-foot-4 wings that can shoot threes. The game’s going to keep changing. Guys keep getting better and better. It’s just a skill set that Tyler has that he’s getting an opportunity to display right now.”
Kolek's chances will come with Alvarado sidelined, but the future is uncertain. Like Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart and Deuce McBride, he was eligible for a contract extension this summer, but the Knicks did not act for any of them, announcing that no contract extension talks will take place until later in the season. The Knicks' efforts to remain below the second apron of the salary cap have made Kolek and McBride rumored to be bound for a trade.
In the meantime, he has worked to remain ready, inside the barricades, proving that he belongs.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
