With a few days off for the New York Knicks, the team wants some of their non-rotation players to receive reps down in Westchester. On Monday, they assigned both rookie guard Tyler Kolek and wing sharpshooter Matt Ryan to the Westchester Knicks of the G-League.
Knicks’ Tyler Kolek had a strong performance in his last G-League assignment
This is their second trip to Westchester this week as they continue to develop into NBA-ready talent. Kolek scored 30 points in a win last week for them, showcasing his scoring and playmaking that makes him a promising NBA prospect.
The 23-year-old was drafted in the second round by the Knicks in this past year’s draft. He has gotten some NBA action this season thanks to some injuries, but it has been very minimal action. He is averaging 2.9 points in 6.9 minutes per game.
Matt Ryan is continuing to develop into a possible rotation piece
As for Ryan, he was signed by the Knicks during the season after the injury to Landry Shamet left a hole in their bench unit. Despite that, he still has to enhance some of his skills if he wants to be a main rotation player.
Ryan serves as mostly a spot-up specialist with a lights-out shooting ability. He is a career 40.1% shooter from three-point range, and has appeared in eight games with the Knicks this season, mostly in garbage time.
Perhaps a strong performance from those two could convince Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau to give them a chance to earn a rotation spot once more. However, it is more likely that this assignment is simply to get those two some reps in the event they are called upon to help the NBA squad.
The Knicks’ next game is Thursday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves, which is the first regular season matchup since the two teams conducted a blockbuster trade that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to New York during the offseason.