Knicks Summer League Roster Announced! – Schedule & Expectations

Knicks Summer League Roster Announced! – Schedule & Expectations

All right, here we go. All right, here we go. Salute to Nick Nation on this Monday afternoon. Another edition of Nicks Offseason Central, KFTV Live, man. CB the franchise JD Sports Talk on the ones and twos. On today’s show, the Knicks 2025 summer league roster has officially been announced. We’re going to give you some summer league expectations for some of these guys who could make uh main roster impacts this season. So, it was a important summer league for some of these guys. We’ll talk about that. Nick’s also making the free agency signings of Gershon Yabuselli and Jordan Clarkson official. We we’ll recap that as well. So, lock in. Hit the like button. Hit the share button. Subscribe to the channel. Salute to our franchise channel members. Salute to the replay gang. Remember that this show is available in audio podcast format as well. And also salute to our sponsor of today’s show at cargurus.com. All right, let’s get into it, man. business show. So, we got to take care of business. What’s good, bro? How you feeling, man? Happy Monday, bro. I’m feeling great, man. We’re still in celebration mode. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Still in celebration mode. Uh I’m I’m going to put the camera on me right here cuz, you know, I got uh you know, a couple new friends uh right behind me there. A couple joints. You know, spotlight spotlight is on them. Shining brightly. Shining brightly back there, man. It’s it’s it’s a it’s a it’s a new detail. new detail for the set, man. So, so it looks it looks uh it looks good. So, uh yeah, you know, we’re we’re still celebrating the the Gloria’s victory. Um still a lot of uh conversation out there, motivation for the next one. Yes. Then in the new day, we got some announcements for for the New York Knicks summer league. So excited to talk about that. Facts. Definitely back to business. Uh salute to DJ Eric El Beats. Okay. Um summer league roster. Some of the guys that we know, we have Pome Dier, Kevin McCull, Tyler Kohlick, Marjam Boschamp is headed to summer league. We’ll talk about that. Um Udai Baba, we we’ll talk about him. Anton Watson who was on the Knicks with a two-way deal as uh the season closed last year. You have Jamal Bay, Bali Bales, Dink Pate, who’s another guy who a lot of people are looking forward to seeing. Jaden Campbell, Devon Grant, uh Nick Jordan, Luca Skooka, very interesting name, Lance Wear, James Naji, who the Knicks acquired in the Carl Anthony Towns trade, Nick’s second round pick, Muhammad Diawara will be here, and Huckamania Ariel Hucki is back here with the squad. As we look to the schedule, just reminding you guys of the schedule, the Knicks will kick off this Friday against the Detroit Pistons, 600 p.m. Eastern time on NBA TV. Sunday against the Boston Celtics, 5:30 p.m. Eastern time, NBA TV as well. And then the next two games will be on ESPN 2. It’ll be Tuesday, July 15th, against the Brooklyn Nets, 600 p.m. Eastern time. And then Thursday, July 17th against the Indiana Pacers, 4:30 PM Eastern time on ESPN 2. So, look, man, as we think about it, let’s talk about some of the summer league expectations. I’ll be out there in Vegas watching uh keenly to see what these guys are are going to be doing here. Um, let’s start with Tyler Koolick. We, you know, last night we talked about the backup point guards situation not really being settled just yet. What are your expectations for Tyler Colet going into some league, man? I I expect him to listen, he should have no uh no excuse to not play extremely well. He you can make the argument he should be the leader in summer league in assists. And the reason is he’s playing with with a lot of talent from a summer league perspective, right? Like a lot of these players usually get drafted. I mean, we as Nick Knicks fans, this reminds me, CP, back of when we had the Quickly, Grimes, Jericho Sims, remember those days? We I mean, we had a hour-long postgame shows as if it was the regular season back at that time for for for the reg for the summer league. So, this is like another example of that moment where you have Cole, McCull, Dier, Bochamp, Hucki, James, Naji. I mean, you have literally a whole rotation of NBA caliber players and he is an assist guy. He he he’s he’s a guy that runs the offense and from that perspective, I look for him to play very well cuz anybody in the starting lineup could be like four the other four guys in the starting lineup are going to likely be in the active roster. So, he’s playing with his his other uh members of of the bench. So, I expect him to play well. What I want to see specifically is an improvement, a slight improvement in defense. I don’t want to go crazy with the expectations and say, “Oh, I want him to be a good defender.” It may take another year for that. I want a slight improvement in defense. Show me that you can, you know, at least with summer league cal, you know, these summer league rosters, definitely don’t get cooked by summer league players, you know, by rookies, international guys. These are guys that are trying to make the roster. do not be a liability out there in these four or five games in summer league from a defense defensive perspective because if he is CP then I would be very concerned if he can’t defend in this summer league and then we expect him to be in an NBA rotation for a head coach that’s coming in in year one and might not have as much grace as as others. Yeah, that’s that’s a good point there on Koolic. I would say you you definitely a good point in terms of the starting five is most likely going to be comprised of players who he may be running with on the practice squad. Players who also may be in the rotation with him. So it’s a good good time for him to gain some more chemistry with those guys. Huck in particular in a nice little two-man game pick and roll action. So definitely want to see that. I mean look, we all know the playmaking is his skill set that he can do in his sleep. He can walk into high IQ plays and make the team better. He did that last year in summer league. That’s where we were became uh impressed with Tyler Kohlick coming off of being the Big East player of the year over at Marquette. But for me, it’s as you said, it’s two things for me. Number one, defensively, did he get a little bit bigger? Can he handle a little little bit more physicality? Can he set a tone defensively with ball pressure, jumping into passing lanes, just being a smarter and more physical defender? I thought we saw some of that in the regular season in his limited action when JB was sidelined. I thought as the games went on, he got a little bit better in terms of his anticipation, his ball denial, things of that nature from a defensive standpoint. So, I want to see more of that in summer league. Uh, but most importantly for me is his aggression offensively. The playmaking is there, but will he be looking for his shot a little bit more? you know, maybe last year coming in for those spot minutes, he felt like maybe he just had to do his job in those situational tips minutes, not try to do too much. But to me, if he’s really going to make a case, and I think he it would take a huge leap for him to take that backup point guard spot, at least for right now in the Mike Brown’s rotation and the and the pressure. I got to see how aggressive he is offensively finding a spot on the court to get to. Is there a floater in his bag? Is there a nice little mid-range? A lot of his three-point attempts, especially last year, fell short. A lot of times it fell short. So, want to see if if he if he has that pop in his jumper, like I said, a floater, a little mid-range, and just get more more aggressive overall offensively. Yeah. And I also, you know, he’s the point guard. So another thing which goes into like Jordan Brink who is the head coach of summer league. He is I see it as the assistant director of player development for the Knicks. Um and now he’s going to be the head coach. I’m interested I’m interested to see CP is is Brink going to like do you think any semblance of the Mike Brown system will be played here at all in summer league or I think it certainly could be. Certainly could be. Yeah. I I I wonder if, you know, I mean, Mike Brown’s already he probably is already uh you know, out there. Um and, you know, I just wonder if they’re going to install at least a few sets, a few plays, maybe a couple. Yeah. of his system. Um cuz this is the week that they really practice. So, you know, I know summer league has technically started, but for the Knicks conference is more at the end of this week. So, I think there’s excitement there and we’ll see more reporting as we get there with MSG, I’m sure, in terms of Mike Brown’s involvement early and and if they do report that, hey, Mike Brown was at practice or, you know, let’s see who’s even the assistant coach if it’s like it’s a lot to be seen later this week. But when it comes to KO and the system, I just want to see what they run out there, how it looks. And this is a new era and there’s excitement just because of that. And with Kle, as you mentioned, I look a lot as at TJ McConnell and some of these guys that have similar size than than Koh. And just like McConnell, you mentioned about the jump shot. McConnell had to find a go-to move. And you know that go-to move is when he gets to the restricted area and he you know he plants his foot and he shoots that little you know restricted area jump shot. That’s his go-to move and it seems like it still can’t be stopped. Kick needs to find something like that. Whether as you mentioned is a midi is a floater game. He needs a move because of the lack of size and physicality. He needs to develop a move that he will have as a go-to. Yeah. To counter some of the bigger defenders that he’s going to face. facts. What do you guys think in the chat, man? Um, Tyler Kolic, what are your expectations for Tyler the Creator in his second year of summer league? How about the big man, Ariel Huckorty? Second summer league for Huckamania. What are you expecting here for for Ariel? It seemed with a lot of these young guys, EP, it’s an important summer for all of them. It’s an important one for for Hucky. I mean, when I look at the the the group of these young guys, he may be near the top of the list as guys that could be in the rotation day one. You know, when you look at the uh uh you know, 7 feet, shot blocking presence, active, can run, athletic. I mean, he even recovered from that injury pretty fast. Yeah, he did. you, you know, he he he recovered pretty fast and and it it goes to the youth that he still has obviously. Um, but a lot of fans are looking for him to take that step and be either an insurance to Mitchell Robinson or who knows what could happen as a potential replacement depending on where the franchise goes here in the near future. But as it stands today, you talk about an opportunity to to add a shot blocking presence, to add um you know, his his ability to play the drop coverage, to play defense, to defending the perimeter. People are excited about this pick and he was what 50 something 50 whatever pick he was. Like you have another opportunity like you had with Jericho Sims here to develop a late second round pick and get another gem. This is a very important summer league uh for for Hucky. Yeah, for Hucky of of the three guys that came in last year between him, Kick Dier, he was the most pro ready just having the the experience over in um in in Australia where he was. So, and then he came in and and he was impressive in those short stints that he had with the Knicks. I just showed the the the highlights from his game against the Raptors where he had the six points and the five rebounds. summer league last year. He was quite impressive and that’s where he kind of, you know, ma made his claim to fame there. But I just want to see a little bit more of that just go into summer league and dominate in your role. He moves very well. His footwork is really good on the defensive end. As you said, he showed a lot of like quickness and an agility that I think the Knicks sorely need. So, just continue to use that athleticism, be a rim presence, be a rim deterrent, run the floor well. you know, Kohlick is going to find him as he keeps running the floor. We saw that last year. The lob threat is going to be there. Is there a little pop, you know, a little jumper pop that he might have? I don’t think that’s a a requirement, but hey, if if he if he wants to work on that and and flash a little bit of that, I think that can certainly help. But overall, I I think what he did last year is enough to get him back up big man minutes right now. So, you know, just stay healthy. Now, obviously, he’s coming off of uh the the knee injury, the the slight miniscus tear. Stay healthy, keep running the floor well, play some good defense, set good screens, like the typical Hawk Porty game, I I think he’s going to be fine. And one thing that’s very important uh for a team, especially for again a head coach like Mike Brown that’s coming into the expectations that he is, Horty I’ve seen in his limited action uh has something that could be valuable in a rotation CP and that’s pure pure passion and expression and he’s physicality and aggressiveness and he he’s out there, you know, just being very active on the court. he’s vocal. Uh when there’s a highlight, he’s yelling, he’s screaming on the court. Like that component there, especially when you get that off the bench and be able to get that kind of a energy infusion is very important in an 82 game season is very important for, you know, you talk about why we got PJ Tucker here. you know, Porty could develop into kind of that type of role player off the bench where he is your energy guy. And it’s always impactful when you get that from a 7 foot center that can be that can impose his will, you know, in short minute rotations, shot blocking, rebounding, and running. I mean, he had a dunk one time on a play that he looked like Julius Randall out there and and a lot of people said like that dunk mimicked like the the movement and the style had a little Julius Randall effect. And so that right there is very important. So because of that, I want him to take advantage of this opportunity, make an impression on the new head coach and take the opportunity uh to get into the rotation cuz if he does, he’ll be able to provide that to to the bench. What do you guys think, man? Huckamania, Ariel Huckporty, what do you guys want to see from Ariel Huckporty this summer league as it translates into uh the 2526 campaign? Leave us a comment in the chat. CP the franchise, JD Sports Talk on the ones and twos. Knicks offseason central. We are breaking down the Knicks summer league roster and some of the expectations for the key players. Look, there’s a there’s a ton of guys that that will play here most later on in in the summer league, but we’re talking about the guys who have a legit shot here in this Knicks rotation and will be needed to fill a role. Uh most notably, Pakome Dier, man, the Knicks first round pick last year out of France. What are the expectations for Dier this year? Uh he might be he might be the most anticipated one of all. Yeah, because he’s your he’s your highest draft pick. Uh believe he’s the youngest one, too. 20. Um and let’s face it, like Yeah, Hugporty is all nice. He’s a 7 foot center. I get it. You know, Kle the the nice point guard passes and and the assist and all that stuff. Smart player. You know, you know what’s attractive now? It’s the wing position. Wing is the 67 to 69 small forwards, you know, that can play the three, can play the four, can play some two, can guard the one, can guard the two, can guard the three, can guard the four. Like, that’s what everybody is craving for. That’s what gets people excited. That’s what gets front officers excited now is that wing position. And you know, when you look at the roster construction right now, Doier could literally dictate what the front office does as far as that position because if he takes this opportunity by storm CP, we’re I mean, we just had a show yesterday talking about who could be that veteran’s minimum. Well, Dier with an impression might have the front office saying, “Well, let’s let’s go get a backup guard. We don’t need a wing cuz we have a guy that’s on the brink of making a major impact off the bench. So, there’s a lot at stake not only for him because it’s only year two and he’s young. It’s such a weird situation because technically he needs more time. You would think, right? He he would be under a longer path, but this team needs him now cuz we need his position now. And because we need his position, hey, you are our first round pick. So instead of us trying to figure out how we’re going to get it from the outside, why don’t you take that opportunity and internally provide that missing piece to us? Because I’m telling you CP, if he can contribute, man, you talk about Dier OG, if Mikuel takes a leap here in in in a new system and plays a little bit more efficient as a Nick, now we’re talking, man. Now we’re talking, okay, we are a serious serious problem in the Eastern Conference. Yeah, I agree with you. He He’s the most important prospect. Uh they they spent the first round pick on him and he plays the most important position in terms of being a wing and and for a team like the Knicks who it’s questionable whether they have that wing versatility and the wing depth behind OG Macau, he’s going to be vital. I I thought we saw some flashes in the summer league and even in the regular season, his three-point shot. Hey, sometimes it it the the shooting mechanics were great, but hey, sometimes it was on the money, sometimes it was a UFO. Um the defensive awareness again, sometimes there, sometimes a bit out of position over match. And sure, certainly those things will come with playing as a rookie. But again, he’s he I think he’s going to have to be accelerated a little bit so that he can really fill that void there because, you know, outside of those two, outside of Wing Stop, you have Josh Hart. Is he going to start? Is he going to come off the bench? But they really don’t have that switchable wing outside of those two guys. So, it’s going to be interesting to see how he plays. coming in last year off ball. His offball awareness as a cutter was certainly one of his strengths in Mike Brown’s system. I think that’s going to be somewhere where he can help them if they go to him. So, it’ll be interesting to see how him and Kick develop some of that chemistry. Huck as well. Definitely want to see more accuracy with the threes. That’ll be also important. And just overall just being aggressive as a as a shot creator like dip into your bag, try some new things out. summer league is the time to test all of that out. So, let let’s see if if if Dier can kind of develop that dog in them because, you know, those French guys, they have a tendency to be selfless, but I want to see him be a bit more selfish and see what uh what’s in there because certainly there’s some potential. Now, what wasn’t all that great was that you when he was in Westchester 14 games in the G- League, shot 40% from the field and 31% from three and that was less of competition. So again, 20 years old, let’s hope that those things improve and that he can find a shot, especially at summer league. And it reminds me, you know, I I guess from the optimistic perspective as a Nick fan, just no look further than Deuce McBride in terms of um you know, how deuce he struggled as well. Yeah. Yep. to translate like duce had good college numbers from the three-point line but they could not translate to NBA games. He was making them in practice. He was cooking in the GLeague but it just couldn’t translate to the NBA game. And it seems a little bit different because I’ve seen Dier, you know, you mentioned those G-League numbers, but it just seems like he actually played better in the NBA those you know what I mean? Like even even if you want to count the preseason NBA, like remember that big game he had in the preseason last year. Um he had a you know he had a nice game there against the Cleveland Cavaliers, had a nice game against the Nets. Like in these short stints that Tibs did play uh some of these guys a couple minutes he actually played well in those minutes and then he goes to the G- League and struggles a little bit. Sometimes you have players that are just it just strains like that. It’s backwards. Uh, but now he’s going to have an opportunity here in summer league. And as you mentioned, I’m looking at him to be more aggressive. And the intrigue here with a guy like him is again, I I just want to see if Mike Brown installs anything uh within this week because he can be a big benefit of that. Uh, a lot of us are excited about what this offense is going to look with the new head coach. And so because of that, we’re going to be excited about what each player is going to be able to do uh within that system. And Daddy is definitely to me the most uh interesting player to watch uh for the summer league roster. Yeah, for for sure. Uh how about Kevin McCull Jr. came on late rehabing the ACL injury. Started in Westchester later on in in the third quarter, third, fourth quarter of last season. Got in a regular season game and we got to make his Nick debut at the Garden. What are you expecting from Kevin Culler Jr. uh this uh this summer league? He he’s he’s right there in terms of, you know, intriguing players as well because we haven’t seen much of him at least to start out. I know later on he got healthy. Uh he played in in in the G-League. I believe he was at almost 12 points per game and and I mean he gave you a little bit of everything. He gave you 12 points, five rebounds, four assists. Uh, and we we saw the the report, the Scott report, even some comparisons to a young Josh Hart in Kevin McCull in terms of a guy that can do a little bit of everything, but needs to improve when it comes to the efficiency in the jump shot shooting department. And so now you’re talking about a young player that is healthy, went to a pro ready uh school, and he was thought to be a Tibs guy. I’m interesting to I’m interested to see his profile how intrigued Mike Brown is going to be with a profile of Kevin McCull because Kevin McCull was thought to be a Tibslike uh player and and Mike Brown. Um, you know, I’m I’m just interested to see if if he’s going to be someone that’s going to be liked uh by by the new head coach. So, I’m looking forward to seeing an improvement in shooting uh from Kevin McCuller and just just to be healthy, just to be out there and for us to be able to see him play um at least on the NBA scale. Whereas with the GLeague when he finally got back, you know, we’re not out here watching full G-League games. We’re seeing the highlights after. we’re seeing the statistics, but now under MSG, under NBA circles, we’re able to see him for the first time uh play some of these full full games and and let’s see if he can be again another potential gem for Walt Perin and in this Knicks front office. Yeah, we’re kind of looking for that next class of of gems right after he found Grimes, who you know, Grimes didn’t get his new bag yet, but he’s slated to get it. deuce. Um, you know, some some of the later ones. Sims is still hanging on with with the Bucks. So, let’s see if Kev McCulla Jr. along with Hucky and Dier and and Kohic can help uh contribute here to this team. And I’m with you, man. Starts with health. Let’s see how he’s moving on that on that new ACL. Last year, he had he had a couple of good games in the GLeague, a couple all-around games in the G-League. For me, like I look at McCulla’s like um almost like a Ben Shepard with the Pacers. Like bring energy, bring some tenacity defensively, knock down an open three when you get the when you get the opportunity. So definitely some some accuracy in his three-pointer. But if he’s if he has any chance at cracking the rotation at at two positions, the two three that they need help at, just bring some energy defensively, man. Force the issue. good defensive pressure, set a good tone for your team. Like I’m not really expecting just crazy offensive bag from Kevin McCull Jr. because not to say that he can’t have it, but he just never really had that reputation even coming out of Kansas. So, you know, be a star in your role. Be a star in your role. Scrap knock down an open jumper when you have it and play some good D. Just give the team some good energy. I think that’s going to be his shot at at cracking the rotation starts in the summer. Who do you think out of these four? Give me your pick for most impressive summer league from this group of four. Yeah. And give me give me the one we’re going to be a little bit surprised by on a on a positive end. So, I’m technically asking you to pick two good impressive players, but the most impressive and one that you’ll be like, we might be surprised by Yeah. this guy. See, I I think Horty already has a a high floor where I’m not sure how much farther he can go, you know what I mean? In just his skill sets and his tools. It’s still good, but to me, I look at him as more of a backup and he’s he’s already good in that role. And I Yes, he can get better, but I don’t see like another level for Hucky. I think it’s got to be Dier, man. M you know I’m not so sure Tyler has it in him at the pro level to really hit that level. You know everybody wants to see him getting in that McConnell bag. Maybe it takes a little while like you said like deuce maybe it takes a little bit while a little while for Kick but in terms of like year to year I got to go do a one and then probably Hucky. I’m not sure what to expect from from uh from McCull. Maybe Dio is a surprise. Maybe it’s a second round pick. Maybe James Naji. Maybe it’s James Naji. I’ve heard some people think he he might be even more ready than Hook Porty. Some people are saying because of where he’s coming from. Who? Who? Diara. Uh Naji. Naji from a from a Oh, sorry. Sorry. Yeah. I thought I thought you said D. Yeah. Yeah. Naji. Yeah. So, like let’s see let’s see what he brings to the table because again I I’ve heard I’ve heard some fans say that they believe based on what they’ve seen that he might be even more ready. Um that he with his athleticism he could provide a little bit more. So let’s let’s see it. Yeah. I think I think we’ll be surprised by some if he gets the minutes. Um I I think McCulla is my surprise. Okay. in a sense of like surprise, in a sense of man, he put up some some some nice nice games, man. Like, hold on, hold on, hold on. We we might need to pay attention to this guy. I think he might give us that feel. And then the most impressive Nick on the roster. I mean, I’ll probably say it will either be Dier or Bo Champ. Bo Champ, I think, is important. I’m not sure if he We were talking about this yesterday. I’m not sure if he’s eligible for another two-way, but if he can, I think he needs to get it off the rip and get minutes and get minutes with the main with the main club. You you hoop with Bochant, man. Talk about it, man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, no. That that was in your prep for Nick’s tour today, man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I uh definitely bowled with with with Bo Champ and uh he he had told me you know I had you know when I called you I told you about that obviously you know I wanted to keep it private on because you never know what could happen right so never you know I didn’t want to say that a player told me but he did tell me that he was uh going to play in summer league um and he is and we talked about how important this summer is for him and and some behindthe-scenes stuff uh with with with his journey and so I’m rooting for him as well to to to get an opportunity. And you know, I look at his career and it’s very interesting, CP, because like he’s 6’7. He was the he was a first round pick, the 24th pick by the Bucks. So, he’s a first round pick, a top 24 pick, a wing top 24 pick. He is only 24 years old. He he’ll be 25 in October. And I look at his career, man. 40% from three year two and 48 games. Then, you know, only three games with the Clippers, 66% from three. He shot overall 34% from three in 24 2025. Um, his rookie year, he was at 33%. So, right now his career, he’s 35%, but he’s had like some like solid like like runs. Yeah. Um, and he’s a talented player, man. Um he was in that rotation with the Bucks again, 48% and and 40% from three, 48% overall in that 20 20 23 20 24 season playing 13 minutes a game off the bench in 48 games. And again, is it him or Dier? Right? Like we talk about how Dier is the homegrown talent that could run go into that role. Margaramp is on that same scale of potential opportunity and everybody gets a clean slate and also CP there’s a reason why I’m saying you know he’s on the summer league team right like there there like this front office there’s something there that they want to see otherwise he wouldn’t be if they had no potential plans or thoughts about him on this roster he may not even be on this on this summer league they may not even want to see see anything from So, the fact that he’s on this team, I think they want to see something. Mike Brown may want to see something and and then after that, let’s see what happens. But yeah, he he I I’m definitely personally rooting for Bo Champ and you know, he plays a position that this team desperately needs right now. Yeah, definitely. That that’s why I say it’s worth a shot and if he’s hungry and and has something to prove, he’s out there with something to prove. I think those are the guys that we want. And for a team who I’ve always looked at is is lacking athleticism, take a shot. You know, that that could be a nice little formula there. So, take a shot and see what’s up. And and he’s a KFTV fan, man. How can you not be rooting for the guy? The guy’s a KFTV fan. You know what I mean? He spotted you out. He was a fan. You know what I’m saying? Exactly. And you know, he had a little uh you know, he had a little uh he got his channel going. He had a little uh you know documentary going on. You know he’s he’s journaling his journey and uh out of all things he could have put on he put he put us on. Yeah. In terms of when you announced his his his acquisition here uh for the Knicks. So yeah, he definitely said he he you know he he watches the the show and uh he also said, you know, he’s looking forward to seeing the team uh at Vegas. So yeah, if you pop, you know, when you pop in, definitely um give him a give him a shout. And uh yeah, hopefully he plays well for sure. R rooting for him. Um Dawara, I I want to see is there any offense in there? How does the defense look? Again, wing factory, man. 6’9, crazy wingspan. Is he going to stay? A lot of people don’t think he’s going to stay with the team. He might not ever play with the team, but hey, could he surprise some people? You know, there was some um I think it was John Hollinger who said he didn’t really have a a good season. He had an underwhelming season with his team there in France. So, is he a guy that can pop at the NBA level with his frame and and his potential? Anything’s possible. So, I’m going to be watching Diwara, man, and see see what he’s got there and if there’s a two-way in store um in store for him. Yeah, we may see him later on in summer league, I think. Yeah, only because I’m like, yo, CP, yo, this roster is lowkey. Lot a lot of guys that got to get evaluated. A lot of guys, bro, this roster is low-key stacked. Not even looking at the names we never heard of that are like, you know, we there’s a Slovenian guy on this team that people are intrigued about. Uh this might be the most like this deepest summer league team that they’ve had in since since the IQ Grimes uh Sims since those days and even those teams were didn’t have this many second tier players that need to be evaluated. So Dior, let’s see, man. I don’t know. like you mentioned, I don’t know what the true intentions of this of this franchise was when they selected him. I I do see that he gets some comparisons to a potential Seakkum defensively, uh players like that, but we’ll see. I think the biggest question now is first, is he NBA caliber? I think that’s the first thing he needs to show. Is he at all NBA caliber? And then once he proves that, once he shows you that he could be that, then I think I’ll start to get really excited about the other things in terms of the wingspan, the the potential comparisons, and some of the things that he could develop into. I think right now for him is more about like, all right, am I an NBA player or not? Yeah. And I think that’s the opportunity he’s going to get. Maybe a little bit more in game three, game four because as you mentioned, you know, like I could see Bo Champ probably even getting just the first two games and if he shows out, it might just be like, “All right, we seen enough. You’re good. We seen enough.” And then we might see Dr. second half of summer league. Yeah. Good, good, good. Uh, good stuff there. Uh, Dr. Deroy Bramwell, big up to our brethren Dr. Droy, franchise channel member for over two years. He says, “This summer league roster is the most intriguing I’ve seen for sure. We need to find that hidden gem. Maybe Leon has the same expectations for this for this roster as he does the NBA. Maybe it’s uh maybe maybe when they made this roster CP, they had a singular focus on the summer league championship. Summer league chip, man. We start start off, you know, there’s levels to it. There’s levels to it. You know what I mean? So, yeah. Shout out to Dr. Deroy Branwell. Okay. Uh oh, we got a $20 super chat. I forgot to load up my soundboard. Let me get to it. Uh, web franchise channel member 29 super chat says, “Can you break down how many out of the new guys can make it on the roster off the summer league team? Also, can we send Watson on his way?” Dude must be a favor. He must be a favor. Hey, we we’ll see, man. Yeah, Watson, he didn’t look like much when they got him from the Celtics, but right now and today they the Knicks also made official the Yabaselli and Clarkson deals. So, Yabaselli gets a little bit less than the taxpayer mid level. Clarkson gets the vet minimum and Yabaselli’s favor allows the Knicks to to have one more vet minimum. We talked about some options last night. Make sure you go back and watch last night’s show, Nicks Weekly. And then somebody to a rookie deal. So, what our guy uh Yosi was saying was that, you know, one of the guys can get a rookie deal such as James Naji or a diara can get on one of the rookie deals. And then remember, you got three two-way contracts that you can give out. So, does that go to a diara? Does that go to a Kevin McCull’s? You know, does that go to a Dink Pate who I’m going to be interested in seeing how he plays at the summer league? the the youngest professional in league history, Dink Pate, is also going to be there at at summer league, man. The youngest professional in US history when he side with GLeague Ignite at 17 years old. So, we’ll see what Dink Pate has in store. We might catch a little windmill at the Thomas and Max Center posterizing cats. She that’s another guy we this this team think Pay has has gotten a lot of buzz on Nick’s Twitter. Yeah. Yeah. So, let’s see. a lot of a lot of fans want to see him play and and see, you know, what what what he has to to to offer here. And so, again, like I man I it’s a lot of players on this on this roster that this franchise is evaluating. So, how many I mean, you got the four guys, right? And then I think the second layer is Well, Kick and Horty have have they they’ve got their joints. They’re good. Yeah. You know what I So, right. So, it’s really down to the three two ways and a rookie deal. So, four. So, for that group, you’re adding who? Naji, Bo Champ, P. Yeah. If Diara, it’s it’s between Dior and Pate to me. You know what I mean? And Dior, I don’t know, man. You know, I I think we got to wait and see. Diara, does he have a connection with Yabuselli? I think they may have the same agent or something. Well, him and Dier are friends. And him and Dier are friends. Yeah, him and Dier are friends. So, you know, the Knicks the Knicks know what they be doing sometimes with this. Right. Right. So, you have the three trying to get the young the young guy comfortable. Yeah. Yell, you know, let’s invest into this little dier. Let’s invest into this experiment. Let’s get him comfortable culturally and all that stuff in the locker room. That’s fair. Uh sometimes I’m telling you man, sometimes in news when you’re talking about uh investing in a young player, it sounds funny, but sometimes you do need to invest into into comfort zone environment atmosphere for these guys, especially when they’re they are an international player um to aid in the development. And sometimes, you know, as we saw on Nick’s Twitter today, man, confidence is everything for players. Yeah. Confidence. Confidence, performance follows. That’s right. That’s right, man. It’s a good good analogy by you, man. And then you got uh Udai Baba, 6’5. They call him the the the Tokyo drift. 6’5 shooting guard. Played three years in the G-League. Was known, this is from GTV hoops, was known for his flashy style of play, acrobatic layups, and ability to play above the rim. Udai Baba 11.4 four points per game, 54% shooting from the field, 41% from three during his final season in the G-League with the Legends. Also a member of the Japanese National with the hustle. Oh, let me let me uh let me put this on mute here as we cycle through some highlights. Did you take a look at any highlights of Udai, man? No, man. Looks like a little flash. Udai Baba. Yeah, Udai Baba, man. Looks like a little flash, man. They they not showing none of his defensive heights, but his fast break game is on the money. He played in the league before. I see a Dallas jersey there. I I think that was uh that was probably Dallas GLeague. I don’t think he’s played in the pros yet. I mean, that looks legit like the Dallas preseason preseason stint. Preseason stint with the Mavs. There we go. Yeah. Preseason. All right. All right. Yeah. You die. Yeah. Summer league is going to be fun, man. He’s definitely athletic, man. I’m I’m looking at some of these highlights here. I’m like, “Oh, man. You bring that to the garden.” Yeah, absolutely. We got we got French, we got Americans, we got it all here. We going United Nations with it. Yaming it. Okay. All right. Let’s see what his defense is looking like. Cuz you know he can finish. He’s a nice little finisher. You see that’s where it all changes. CP. Yeah, that’s the equalizer. When it’s time to defend, that’s when it’s like, all right, now we now we see why. Absolutely. Hopefully not. But uh you know, you know how it is, man. these guys with the with the nice I mean that’s a nice Udai Baba. Udai Baba. That’s an ill name. That’s an ill name. That sounds nice, man. Yeah. Like like that like that that gets you hype uh when he plays well. So I mean let’s see let’s see what he has man. It just just adds to more excitement um to watch these games, man. I’m very excited to watch these games. Yeah. No, no question about it. First game is Friday. What time? First game is Friday. Let me pull up the schedule one more time for the people. Hang hang tight. Hang tight. Hang tight. Let me let me pull this up. Suits everybody in the chat. Aron Oliver, what’s the KFTV schedule for that? What you doing? Like, you know, you doing the show pre? Yeah, we Yeah, we still I’m working on it right now with the with the summer league studio. We we trying to get more action at the summer league studio postgame. We obviously going to be doing that between myself, you, Alex, depending on, you know, time and availability. So, we’ll work through that. Um, I’m pulling up the schedule here again. Friday against the Pistons, 600 p.m. This is all Eastern time. 6 p.m. NBA TV. Sunday against Boston, 5:30 NBA TV. Mon, uh, Tuesday, it’s every other day. Tuesday, Brooklyn Nets, 600 p.m. ESPN 2. And then Thursday, 7:17 against the Pacers, 4:30 p.m., uh, ESPN 2 as well. So, there we go. There there we go. Let me see here. You got Ron Holland. Yeah. Garrison Brooks. All right. You got a few couple. I was looking at a I was looking at, you know, sometimes you look at the other uh teams and any new prospects. Well, you got all five of the Nets draft picks. We’ll see a lot of new Nets. That That’ll be a nice game, right? Yeah. You got all their first You got all their first round picks versus what could be, you know, this stacked Knicks team. Yeah. So that that that that that might be the best game to like the most, you know, more intriguing game to watch just because of the amount of first round picks who it is in terms of the Nets. And let’s face it, one of those, you know, picks uh was from the MueL trade. Yeah. So, you know, you know how that goes. like the picks that they uh draft will forever be a part of this, you know, of the mega trade and and Knicks fans along as uh you know, the Nets front office will will have, you know, they’ll always keep tabs on the development of those players to see if they turn out to be anything in in in this league. So, I’ll be excited to to watch uh you know that Nets next game. Yeah, for sure, man. I’m be I’m see what Udai Baba is talking about. They call him the Tokyo Drift. The Tokyo Drift. The Tokyo Drift. That nickname is hard. So So we going to see what UI Baba has in store um at Vegas. And uh hey, speaking of Tokyo Drift, man, shout out to our sponsors of today’s show at Car Gurus. Hey, whether you guys are buying or selling cars, you know, listen man, you guys want to go to a trusted website, CarGurus is one of the most trusted websites when it comes to getting the best deal, whether it’s buying or selling. Making a big purchase should come with confidence, not confusion. CarGurus helps you cut through the noise, showing you the best deals and in-depth vehicle details so you can feel confident about your purchase. Because when it comes to your big deal, you deserve the best deal. It’s no wonder that Simulator Web estimated traffic data shows CarGurus as the number one most visited car shopping site. So buy or sell your next car today with CarGurus at cargurus.com. That’s c a rg guus.com. Okay. Shout out to our sponsors at car gurus, man. Go ahead and get yours. All right, man. Um, like yeah, like we said, the the the Clarkson Yabiselli deals are official. We talked about yesterday some options at the Vetmin. Let’s see where the Knicks go from here. Couple more spots left up for grabs. How about how about uh little quick little quick thing here with uh Snake Eyes? Uh he’s a battle rapper from Harlem. Mhm. And uh he’s well known in the battle rap industry, battle rap community. Mhm. Uh and uh he claims uh I mean he took a picture in the airport. I don’t know if you saw this CP. Um send me the link. He was Yeah, I’ll send you the link. You know, he had an interesting uh I guess he posted an interesting post uh quote from Mike Brown. Oh, yes. Yeah. Send me that real quick. Yeah. I I forgot about that. I forgot about that. I wanted I wanted to get your thoughts about that real quick. I just sent it to you. Yep. Yep. I got it. I forgot I I wanted to put that up yesterday. So, this was from Snake Eyes, as you said, ran into Mike Brown as he says on his way from Cali. And Mike Brown says, “Why do you have the Laker hat on?” and and uh state guys confirm you, right? Yeah. He is Is he from New York? Is he one of those New Yorkers that think it’s too cool to rock with the Knicks? He’s one of them old school New Yorkers that that’s like, you know, back in the day where you just wore everything just cuz it was cool and it was hot. Yeah. He’s one of, you know, he’s one of those rock a Laker hat today, a different tomorrow, like you know. Yeah. Okay. So, so the main thing is is that he asked Mike Brown, are we getting Giannis LeBron? and Mike Brown with a great politically correct answer. I’m not trading my wings. Not getting rid of OG. Not getting rid of Macau Bridges. Good answer. And look, at the end of the day, I don’t see this year at least, I don’t see the Giannis thing possible this year. Maybe next year different LeBron thing. Forget about that, man. Forget about LeBron, bro. Forget about that. I’ll say I’ll say this though, CP. I know you could say it’s a political answer, but technically if that’s exactly how I went word for word Mike Brown, nobody asked him about the wings. Not sure, you know what I mean? Nobody asked him. He State guys ain’t asked him about the trade parameters and hey, he just said are we going to get Yiannis? He could have said we’ll see. He could have said that. But he said I’m not trading my wings. H that’s that’s I’m just saying it’s it’s interesting. It is interesting. It is interesting. It’s the head coach trying to come in here and already make a statement. Well, like telling his guys, I believe in you. Yeah. And that that’s great because especially Mal Bridges, man, he he’s we we’ve got to see see what he can do here. That and that’s another reason why I don’t think the Cal Bridges gets traded. I think he gets the extension and they go from there. That post has almost 500,000 views on on on Twitter. So, I’m sure it got around with the algorithms and all that stuff and Nick’s fans tweeting around it. Sure it got to some of the Knicks players because that’s how the algorithm works on on on Twitter. So for sure. Nice comment by Mike Brown. Excited to see excited to see him on on the court. Shout out to Pops, the legend. Shout out to Pops, man. He says, “Who out of the summer league rosters do you want to have the best season and make the impact on the regular season?” Um, definitely Dier. You know, we talked about it on the show that Dier is going to be the most critical. So, let’s see what Pakome Doier has in year two. Appreciate the the super chat. Lord Steven Stone, 18 months. Let’s go. Salute to Lord Steven Stone celebrating 18 months as a franchise channel member. We definitely appreciate all of your support. All right, I got to do this um the summer league meeting right after this. So, great show. Hey, if anything happens, you guys know where to rock out to, man. Number one show for the fans by the fans as we said. Check out Nick’s Weekly yesterday where we talked about some of the options at the vet minimum deal. myself, JD, Alex, as well. And we’ll see you guys later, man. Shout out to the replay gang. Remember that the show is available in audio podcast format. And leave us your comments, man. What are your expectations for this summer league roster? Okay. All right, man. We’ll see you guys next time. Peace.

🚨 Knicks Summer League Roster Breakdown | Key Players to Watch + Expectations for 2025 Season 🚨

In this episode of Knicks Offseason Central, CP “The Fanchise” and JD Sports Talk dive deep into the New York Knicks’ 2025 Summer League roster, breaking down the key players who could make a real impact on the main roster this season. From Tyler Kolek’s shot at becoming the backup PG, to Ariel Hukporti’s rim protection, and Pacome Dadiét’s potential as a rotation wing, we cover it all.

🔥 Topics Covered:

Summer League expectations for Kolek, Hukporti, Dadiét, Kevin McCullar Jr., MarJon Beauchamp & more

What Mike Brown’s coaching presence could mean for the Knicks’ system

Who might surprise fans & earn a two-way or rookie deal

Why Dadié could dictate the front office’s next moves at the wing

The hype surrounding Tokyo Drift Udai Baba

Live Q&A and fan shoutouts

📺 Summer League Schedule:

🆚 Pistons | Fri, 6PM ET (NBA TV)

🆚 Celtics | Sun, 5:30PM ET (NBA TV)

🆚 Nets | Tues, 6PM ET (ESPN2)

🆚 Pacers | Thurs, 4:30PM ET (ESPN2)

🗣 Drop your thoughts in the comments: Which Knicks Summer League player are you most excited to see?

🔊 Available on all podcast platforms – just search Knicks Fan TV!

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#Knicks #KnicksFanTV #NBASummerLeague #PacomeDadie #TylerKolek #ArielHukporty #KnicksNews #MarJonBeauchamp #KevinMcCullar #UdaiBaba #MikeBrown #KFTVLive #KnicksOffseason #NewYorkKnicks

📚 Chapters
00:00 Intro to Knicks
02:57 Schedule Details ️
03:59 Tyler Kolek expectations
06:09 Chemistry Importance
09:43 Kolek’s Go-To Move
12:16 Huckporti’s Potential
15:39 Summer League Roster
18:20 Important Prospect
22:14 Kevin McCullar Jr.
26:02 Impressive Player
28:52 Hooping w/ Beauchamp
31:49 Lacking Athleticism
34:26 Is He NBA Caliber?
36:57 Two-Way Contracts
39:27 Confidence Boost
42:59 First Round Picks
46:02 Mike Brown’s Answer ️
48:44 Show Wrap-Up ️

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