Recapping the New York Knicks Orlando Summer League

The Knicks finished up the Orlando Summer League today as Championship Day is underway and good news. They didn’t finish dead last. That means one thing and one thing only, it’s time to consider them a superteam again. But, that’s for Clem to talk about in his regular season preview. This is just a recap of the Knicks time in Orlando and what we may have all missed due to celebrating this grand country we live in. Going to try and break it down by category to make it all easier to read. Make sure you stay tuned to Clem as he’ll have all your Knicks coverage going forward.

No Frank Ntilikina: 

There was obviously a lot of anger when the Knicks drafted Ntilikina over Malik Monk and Dennis Smith Jr., and it absolutely didn’t help that he missed all of summer league nursing an injury. Obviously, you don’t want to put too much into summer league results, but for a guy who played overseas and 95% of the fanbase hasn’t seen play, you hope to see him and start to get a gauge about who he is and what he can bring offensively.

Finished 7th in Orlando 

The Orlando Summer League is set up a little different in terms of standings and how everything is based. You get points for winning a quarter plus winning a game. Then on Championship Day (today) you play for your final standings i.e. 1 plays 2, 3 plays 4, etc. The Knicks were winless heading into today going 0-4 in round robin play, but did beat the Heat today 91-72 to officially finish seventh. Chasson Randle had 18 points for the Knicks today.

Luke Kornet Signed to Two-Way Contract

I gave out Kornet as an undrafted guy to watch who could make a roster. He did just that as the Knicks signed him to a two-way contract (the first year of these). Kornet is a legit 7’1″ undrafted rookie from Vanderbilt, who can step out and shoot the ball. He’s not someone who is going to sit in the post and try to play bully ball as he’s more of a catch and shoot guy, who can add rim protection as he averaged 2 blocks a game at Vanderbilt. With the two-way contract, it lets teams signed 2 more guys on top of their 15-man roster. Those two-way players will spend most of the season in the G-League, while being allowed to spend up to 45 days with their NBA team. He had some second round grades heading into the draft, but his inconsistency was one of the biggest factors of him falling out. He averaged 6.0 points per game in Orlando.

Damyean Dotson Shows Out

Watching Dotson play you can see how much confidence he has in shooting the ball. He has a pretty quick release and can shoot it both off the dribble and off the catch. This is a shot from today:

You can see he shows a little bit more range than expected and his form is there. Dotson, who had plenty of off the court issues, which resulted in him getting kicked out of Oregon for a sexual assault accusation, was one of the late risers on the draft boards. This is exactly why and it’s extremely likely that he’ll end up on the opening day roster as a second round pick. There are rumors that the Knicks don’t want any new players over the age of 26 and if they are truly going to tank + build from within, a guy like Dotson should make the roster over some middling free agent veteran.

Chasson Randle Put Up Good Summer League Stats Again: 

Randle was one of the stars in the summer league last year and plenty of people thought he would stick in the NBA after that. He played eight games with the 76ers last year before being waived in order to create roster space. Well, Randle was clearly the best player for the Knicks this year again in summer league, as he led them with 15.3 points per game. My worry with him is how turnover prone he was, especially in the first game against the Mavericks where Dwight Buycks just completely ate his lunch. It was like watching a JV vs Varsity player trying to bring the ball over halfcourt. If Randle wants to stick with the Knicks, he needs to be more careful with the ball.

Jamel Artis Could Stick Around: 

Artis, the former Pittsburgh star, had a pretty nice showing in summer league as he came on the last couple of games. He finished by averaging over 10 points per game (the only other Knick to do that besides Randle and Dotson) and shot about 52% from the field. He’d be worth looking at as the second person in the two-way contract as he can provide you offense right off the bat. He’s a guy who can slash to score and set up teammates or catch and shoot. He’s got decent size at 6’7″ where he can play on the wing and at least have length to make up for his defensive weakness. The Knicks need a ton of help on the wing and with him still being just 24 and having a pretty solid offensive game, I’d like to see the Knicks look at him a little bit more, worst thing that can happen is he stinks and you tank even more.