How a breakout star could change trade deadline priorities
The New York Knicks has been playing great basketball lately, currently 22-9 after a road win on Saturday night via the Atlanta Hawks. Although he had a quiet game on Saturday, the backup point guard Tyler Kolek makes made the most of his opportunity in Deuce McBride’s injury absence, putting up several big stat lines over the past few weeks for New York, and earning the trust of head coach Mike Brown in the process.
With that in mind, some have wondered how Kolek came to be can affect The Knicks’ plans at the NBA trade deadline.
“Kolek’s strong recent play could lead the Knicks to instead look at how to address their frontcourt depth. Especially since summer signing Gershon Yabusele fell out of Mike Brown’s rotation,” NBA insider Jake Fisher reported on Marc Stein’s Substack.
However, Fisher pointed out that “as impressive as Kolek has been, the absence of a playoff-tested veteran behind star running back Jalen Brunson is a potential vulnerability for a team with championship aspirations.
Before the season, the Knicks signed Malcolm Brogdon to be their backup point guard, but he decided to retire before the campaign started. However, Kolek has been able to fill that role well in his opportunities so far this year, having a big fourth quarter in the Knicks’ recent Christmas Day win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
It remains to be seen how things will turn out when McBride returns from injury, as he too enjoyed a strong season for New York before being sidelined.
However, at this point, it would appear that adding another point guard is very low on the Knicks’ list of priorities heading into the trade deadline.
Either way, the Knicks next take the court on Monday night against the New Orleans Pelicans on the road.
2025-12-28 17:19:00
