trade the No. 24 pick<\/a> in the draft and out of the first round completely, make two second-round picks and trade two other second-rounders. <\/p>\nUsually, much shouldn\u2019t be expected from players drafted in the middle of the second round \u2014 where the Knicks selected Jack Kayil (No. 39) and Tyler Nickel (No. 47). But this front office has delivered contributors from similar draft positions recently.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Can they do it again?\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Jack](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2281911847.jpg\")
Jack Kayil of Alba Berlin dribbles during the Easycredit BBL Playoff Final Game 4 match between Alba Berlin and FC Bayern M\u00fcnchen at Max-Schmeling-Halle on June 19, 2026 in Berlin, Germany. Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI trust the Knicks \u2014 they have a great scouting department,\u201d Fran Fraschilla, the former head coach at Manhattan, St. John\u2019s and New Mexico and now ESPN\u2019s college basketball analyst, who also is part of the network\u2019s NBA draft coverage, told The Post. \u201cThey hit on guys like this. \u2026 Let\u2019s put it this way, I\u2019ll say this \u2014 Walt Perrin and Brock Aller, they know what they\u2019re doing. It\u2019s not a given that either of these guys is gonna be a home run, but I would trust their judgment given their recent track record.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 20-year-old Kayil was the higher pick of the two, but most know less about him, given that he has played overseas in Germany for Alba Berlin. <\/p>\n
He just recently won the Bundesliga championship with Alba Berlin, recording 10 points, three rebounds and a steal \u2014 though on 2-for-11 shooting from the field and 1-for-9 shooting from 3-point range \u2014 in the title game against Bayern Munich.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a big, strong but young point guard who gained a lot of experience in a relatively high-level European league,\u201d Fraschilla, who is also respected as one of the most knowledgeable about overseas basketball, said. \u201cIt\u2019s to his credit that he just led his Alba Berlin to an unexpected championship. That\u2019s in his favor. Skillwise, he\u2019s still a work in progress, but his athleticism and toughness give him a chance someday soon to be an NBA player. I\u2019m guessing that the Knicks think he needs a little bit more seasoning. I would be surprised if he was on the roster, but he wouldn\u2019t embarrass himself. But he\u2019s not ready to be a contributor on an NBA championship team.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s improving. He\u2019s headed toward being an NBA player. I don\u2019t know that he\u2019s there yet, but he certainly made a big step this year, winning a championship. He was a focal point as a 20-year-old on a team with men, grown-ups.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
What\u2019s his calling card right now, and where does he most need to grow?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a point guard. He\u2019s a creative playmaker who has the ability to create his own shot, but his shooting needs to improve,\u201d Fraschilla said. \u201cHaving said that, he takes a lot of tough shots, because his team gets low in the shot clock. His shooting definitely needs to improve for him to be viable at some point in the future. I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll work on it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nickel, a 22-year-old forward out of Vanderbilt, perhaps has a lower ceiling but is more ready to potentially contribute right away as a sharpshooter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Tyler](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2267428395.jpg\")
Tyler Nickel of the Vanderbilt Commodores reacts after his 3-point basket against the McNeese Cowboys during the first half in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men\u2019s Basketball Tournament at Paycom Center on March 19, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI like his size, his toughness and his shooting,\u201d Fraschilla said. \u201cHe\u2019s got the toughness to be an NBA player, and he certainly shoots it well. And I think that\u2019s why they drafted him. He\u2019s not a skinny, 170-pound kid. He\u2019s well put together, very experienced, been to three schools, and was really a good player this year in the SEC. He\u2019s got a quick release, deep range, and he\u2019s fearless. The toughness and the fearlessness, off the bat, give him a chance to make an NBA roster.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nickel shot over 40 percent from deep the past two seasons in college. And his mechanics, along with his 6-foot-7 frame, make his shooting something that should be transferable to the NBA.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s happening on and off the Garden court\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got a quick release and he is fearless,\u201d Fraschilla said. \u201cFearlessly tough with it. He has amnesia after every shot \u2014 make or miss. \u2026. Right off the bat, his outside shooting is very translatable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say lateral quickness, defensively, in the best league in the world will be his primary adjustment. But if you watch YouTube, you\u2019ll see some sneaky athletic dunks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are usually reasons players fall to the second round. But the Knicks have found pieces \u2014 like Miles McBride, Mohamed Diawara, Tyler Kolek and Ariel Hukporti \u2014 there recently.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Perhaps Kayil or Nickel can be the next examples.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trust in Knicks decision-making is at an all-time high.\u00a0 President Leon Rose, his front office and the scouting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":770984,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[7,7093,6,12,58501,191,66],"class_list":["post-770983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-basketball","tag-leon-rose","tag-nba","tag-nba-draft","tag-nba-draft-2026","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116815925366675502","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=770983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/770984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=770983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=770983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=770983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}