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Knicks 2026 Draft Class is Jack Kayil & Tyler Nickel
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martin
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7/21/2026  4:21 PM
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aggo
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7/21/2026  6:10 PM    LAST EDITED: 7/21/2026  6:12 PM
Nickel is gonna play once he proves he can defend at the nba level

bc

the biggest offensive weakness of this team is above the break threes. if Nickel can space out 30ft and force the nail defender to be level or above the 3pt line this will give our iso drives a lot more space to have success. this is the one area we lost when we traded donte.

I can definitely see it helping mikal and Landry.

BlueKnickers
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7/21/2026  8:40 PM
aggo wrote:Nickel is gonna play once he proves he can defend at the nba level

bc

the biggest offensive weakness of this team is above the break threes. if Nickel can space out 30ft and force the nail defender to be level or above the 3pt line this will give our iso drives a lot more space to have success. this is the one area we lost when we traded donte.

I can definitely see it helping mikal and Landry.

Nickel's defense in SL was much better than advertised. We'll have to see how that transfers to camp and the reg season, but thus far he looked competent on the D end.

dodger78
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8/7/2026  7:32 AM
Some news on Jack Kayil from Germany.
Local media here is saying he has signed a contract with Alba Berlin the club he won the Championship last season and will stay there for a year.
I assume he has a NBA drop-out clause in the contract so next season there should/would not be any issues if the Knicks decide to bring him over then.

I think its a good solution for all parties involved. He is still only 20yrs old, will play some solid competition - Alba not being a Euroleague team hurts me a little here - and the Knicks save money and a 2-way by stashing him in Germany for a season.
I still believe he will be a pretty serviceable NBA player one day.

Now whats next with the roster spots?!?

dodger78
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8/7/2026  7:34 AM
Sorry missed the link in the Knicks Bench Thread. ;-)
Knixkik
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8/7/2026  7:57 AM
Kayil is officially the new Rokas Jokubaitis. Hopefully he eventually comes back to the team though. He only got a partial summer league in, so maybe next summer he gets a full one. He seems like eventual backfill for either Deuce or Kolek as a 4th guard.

As for Nickel, the mystery remains. He can make more money in college this year, but I’m sure the Knicks would love to have him in-house. They would have enough room under the second apron to sign him for the 15th spot later in the season, but not in the beginning. Considering how good he was in SL, Knicks need to figure something out.

martin
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8/7/2026  8:09 AM    LAST EDITED: 8/7/2026  8:10 AM
dodger78 wrote:Some news on Jack Kayil from Germany.
Local media here is saying he has signed a contract with Alba Berlin the club he won the Championship last season and will stay there for a year.
I assume he has a NBA drop-out clause in the contract so next season there should/would not be any issues if the Knicks decide to bring him over then.

I think its a good solution for all parties involved. He is still only 20yrs old, will play some solid competition - Alba not being a Euroleague team hurts me a little here - and the Knicks save money and a 2-way by stashing him in Germany for a season.
I still believe he will be a pretty serviceable NBA player one day.

Now whats next with the roster spots?!?

I'd guess that Kayil's Knicks offer was for a 2-way, which would max out at < $700K if he bopped back and forth? Somehow the $700K number is in my head and I don't know if that is accurate.

Any word on how much he makes with new deal?

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martin
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8/7/2026  8:15 AM
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martin
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8/7/2026  8:16 AM
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dodger78
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8/7/2026  9:19 AM    LAST EDITED: 8/7/2026  9:22 AM
martin wrote:
dodger78 wrote:Some news on Jack Kayil from Germany.
Local media here is saying he has signed a contract with Alba Berlin the club he won the Championship last season and will stay there for a year.
I assume he has a NBA drop-out clause in the contract so next season there should/would not be any issues if the Knicks decide to bring him over then.

I think its a good solution for all parties involved. He is still only 20yrs old, will play some solid competition - Alba not being a Euroleague team hurts me a little here - and the Knicks save money and a 2-way by stashing him in Germany for a season.
I still believe he will be a pretty serviceable NBA player one day.

Now whats next with the roster spots?!?

I'd guess that Kayil's Knicks offer was for a 2-way, which would max out at < $700K if he bopped back and forth? Somehow the $700K number is in my head and I don't know if that is accurate.

Any word on how much he makes with new deal?

Im pretty sure he will make significantly less than 700k, keeping in mind that the total players budget for Alba Berlin last season was only 4.7 mio €.
A top player there earns something around 250k to 300k max in Euros.
This is also one of the reasons why the new financial situation within the NCAA does so much harm to the homegrown talents in Europe... even mediocre EU-players will now earn "fortunes" at a D1 college compared to in the EU. So there is very little incentive for the clubs to invest into youth programs etc.

martin
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8/7/2026  10:41 AM
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martin
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8/7/2026  10:41 AM
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EwingsGlass
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8/7/2026  2:37 PM
I’m seeing reporting that the Knicks cannot afford to sign Knickel and another Vet Min. I was off the impression that they could sign Knickel to the 1.35 2nd rd exception and still have enough for a standard vet min. I’d guess they want to sign him closer to what Kolek got, 4 years, 8mm - and for that they’d need to maneuver. Just mathing as little.
You know I gonna spin wit it
JesseDark
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8/7/2026  2:52 PM
Jack Kayli looks like TremorNoah. I can’t unsee it now
Bring back dee-fense
Nalod
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8/7/2026  4:20 PM
martin wrote:

I guess it counts as an "Alba Post"?

martin
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8/7/2026  4:36 PM
EwingsGlass wrote:I’m seeing reporting that the Knicks cannot afford to sign Knickel and another Vet Min. I was off the impression that they could sign Knickel to the 1.35 2nd rd exception and still have enough for a standard vet min. I’d guess they want to sign him closer to what Kolek got, 4 years, 8mm - and for that they’d need to maneuver. Just mathing as little.

You don’t even need to math, they $3.3 under second apron

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/new-york-knicks/yearly

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EwingsGlass
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8/11/2026  4:24 PM
martin wrote:
EwingsGlass wrote:I’m seeing reporting that the Knicks cannot afford to sign Knickel and another Vet Min. I was off the impression that they could sign Knickel to the 1.35 2nd rd exception and still have enough for a standard vet min. I’d guess they want to sign him closer to what Kolek got, 4 years, 8mm - and for that they’d need to maneuver. Just mathing as little.

You don’t even need to math, they $3.3 under second apron

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/new-york-knicks/yearly

Some early reporting had the Shamet extension a few hundred thousand lower in year 1. At 3.8 they had a 1.35 and 2.45. I trust Spotrac though.

You know I gonna spin wit it
Knicks 2026 Draft Class is Jack Kayil & Tyler Nickel

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