Tyler Kolek and Mohamed Diawara impressed in SummerKnicks win

After two brutal games, two young guys with a lot to prove turned heads on Tuesday.

The first two games of NBA Summer League were… bad, to say the least, for the Knicks.

Not only did they lose both games to the Pistons and Celtics by a combined 31 points and shot a combined 12-for-64 from deep, but they also lost Kevin McCullar Jr. and Pacome Dadiet to injury, with both 2024 draftees missing the Nets game, and their statuses are unknown going forward.

It was an especially rough start for second-year point guard Tyler Kolek, who had just 13 points and 12 assists combined through two games, going 5-for-24 from the field and 0-for-11 from deep with nine turnovers. It was a far cry from his inspiring performance in Vegas last summer and even his spotty minutes throughout his rookie year.

Kolek responded to two ghastly outings by going out against a Nets team with five first-round picks and dropping 23 points in the first half. If not for some horrid shooting by his teammates, he would’ve flirted with a 25-point double-double when the dust settled. A jumper that badly let him down through two games figured itself out in this one, cashing five triples in the first half:

On the third 3-pointer, Kolek brought the ball up, dished it off, and stayed in motion, eventually rotating to the corner where he was found for an open look by MarJon Beauchamp. Very quick trigger. Most of Kolek’s value to the Knicks would be as a ballhandler, but if he were able to show more off the ball, it would pay dividends.

Kolek also got in the passing lane early and often, notching four steals and turning one into a dime and another into a nifty top-and-start layup:

His assist-to-turnover ratio is still extremely shoddy, but he improved massively from the first two games. While he tried to fit passes in tight lanes to guys way too often who weren’t expecting to ball in the first two games, he was much more calm and composed, and showed out his biggest strength despite only logging four assists due to numerous misses and plays like these that were cut short due to fouls:

While Kolek showed out on the statsheet, another young guy showed out without a gaudy box score.

Mohamed Diawara, selected with the No. 51 pick out of France in last month’s draft, only had 7 points and 4 rebounds in 26 minutes. It was nothing special, but it was the little things that opened eyes.

Diawara is 6’9” 225 with a 7’4” wingspan. Not many players are endowed with the traits of Diawara, which is what makes him an intriguing player if he’s able to put it together. Against the Nets, he handled the ball a decent bit, a rarity for a player of his size. He seems more comfortable on plays like this than many other forwards:

That’s not the only thing he can do with the ball in his hands. He can dish some dimes:

It’s one thing to have his athleticism and size, but to be able to also occasionally flash stuff like this tells you that there is a really good player in there if developed, probably.

It felt like Diawara would be a stash candidate after summer league when he was drafted, but he genuinely might be closer to something playable than we could’ve expected. At the very least, he should grab one of the three two-way contracts that the Knicks have open and spend the year playing in Westchester. He’s still super raw and needs to work on consistency and, frankly, learning how to use his frame on both ends of the floor. That said, the Knicks might have found something here.