This was one of those nights. One of the “Steph Curry-esque-type shooting performances,” as Mark Byington called it, when each time the ball left Tyler Nickel’s hand, the Vanderbilt head coach sensed it was going in. He hit eight 3s for the Commodores during their Dec. 21 win over Wake Forest, including three in the first four minutes and six by halftime.
Six months later, that scene played out again on the summer league stage, when Nickel — now with the Knicks after getting picked No. 47 overall — drained six 3s in his Las Vegas debut. He flashed a quick release, an ability to connect from different spots on the court. It was the first spark that ignited a strong first impression months before his first training camp, with Nickel making 41.3 percent of his shots from beyond the arc and averaging 9.2 3-point attempts per game.
The caveat, of course, is that it’s just summer league, when outlooks should be measured and trajectory predictions can look foolish in retrospect. But the short-term conclusion after the Knicks’ summer games: Nickel, a candidate for a two-way deal, might not need long to get his first taste of the NBA with the type of shooting proficiency that tends to stick.
Knicks head coach Mike Brown didn’t hesitate to play his young pieces — like Tyler Kolek, Mohamed Diawara and Kevin McCullar Jr. — last season, and in 2026-27, when they will open as defending champions, Nickel already has emerged as a name to monitor.
