Rookie Tyler Kolek hadn’t gotten a chance to prove his worth to the New York Knicks until Saturday night against the Washington Wizards.
As long as the New York Knicks employ Tom Thibodeau as their head coach, being a bench player on the roster is as close to a part-time job as you can get as an NBA player. The Knicks rank dead last in bench minutes per game, and two of their players–Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart–lead the league in minutes played.
Rookie Tyler Kolek, who was a promising pass-first point guard out of Marquette, was buried on the depth chart behind Jalen Brunson and Miles McBride. Usually, even a second-round pick on the roster would get a chance to play, but that hasn’t been the case for Kolek.
In his rookie season, he has appeared in 15 or more minutes only twice and failed to make much of an impact.
However, he was given his third chance as the Knicks took on the Washington Wizards on March 22, and he certainly made the most of it, tallying four points, eight assists, and three steals. His plus/minus of +5 was the second-most of any Knicks bench player, and they cruised to a 122-103 win.
Even in college, Kolek wasn’t much of a scorer. In his All-American senior season, he averaged 15.3 points but led the Big East with 7.7 assists per game for the third year in a row, making it clear that he was a pass-first player.
Against the Wizards, he assisted OG Anunoby twice, Bridges five times, and Precious Achiwa once. His ability to find the hot hand, Bridges, stood out.
“He was smart,” praised Alan Hahn after the game. “Not only did he find OG Anunoby on one, but he kept looking for Mikal Bridges, who was the hot hand in the corner. He was smart. Let me just find the guy that is making every shot, and I’ll rack up assists that way, and also zero turnovers.”
Seven of Kolek’s assists came in the second quarter, and Bridges didn’t miss a shot from beyond the arc in that frame, which is when the Knicks really took off against Washington.
“I love the way he came into this game, and he was aggressive when it comes to running the offense,” Hahn continued. “Let’s not waste any time. Let me not get caught up dribbling the basketball. Let me just get us into motion, get us to where we need to be, and get some guys going.”
So far this season, Kolek has 32 total assists to only nine turnovers. Granted, the sample size is minuscule, but his 3.55 assist-to-turnover ratio is good for 15th in the entire NBA, ahead of Nikola Jokic, TJ McConnell, and Brunson.
Granted, McBride is fifth in the entire league, but in the event that either he or Brunson goes down with an injury, Kolek is one of the better disruptors in the league.
While he doesn’t have the same scoring punch as the guards ahead of him on the depth chart, he takes care of the ball, makes smart reads, and makes his teammates better.
If the Knicks enter the postseason healthy and remain that way, Kolek might never see the court. However, if McBride or Brunson can’t play for a game or two, not all hope is lost.
