Tyler Nickel LEAVING New York AFTER THIS?! | Knicks News | The Knicks Recap Podcast

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Every team, every topic, everywhere. This is Believe.
We have a major update. Could newest Knick rookie Tyler Nickel leave New York to go back to college? We're going to break down all of these latest reports today.
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Tyler Nickel could leave New York. The Knicks could be losing out on a young promising rookie to college basketball again. I say again, because a lot of you remember Dink Pay. While he wasn't officially signed to the Knicks on any two-way deal or standard NBA contract, he made the jump from Westchester Knicks to the college level. And according to reports, Tyler Nickel could go back to college if he doesn't get the deal he wants with the Knicks.
Shout out to Sports Illustrated and Daily Knicks for giving us this following information. According to them, the sharpshooting forward Tyler Nickel has suddenly gained a year of eligibility for college, where he was certainly a highly paid part of a successful Vanderbilt program last season. His offensive impact would be welcome at any number of schools, many of whom could whip up a lucrative NIL contract for him. Nickel bawled out in Las Vegas, and many Knick fans are understandably excited about what he could bring to the team. The Knicks have a chance to offer him a player-friendly contract to join the main roster, and it's very possible that he would take that.
However, that decision for Nickel just became more difficult, as Tyler Nickel was handed a golden crowbar of leverage. If the Knicks try to lowball him, either in the contract amount, or with a two-way contract, he can now take his toys and go home, or, to put it literally, he can reject the Knicks and go back to college.
It's not all bad news, though. Unlike with the case of DinkPate, New York, they own the draft rights to Tyler Nickel, so even if he goes back to play in college for another year, right after that, he'll be right back where he belongs, with the New York Knicks. If the Knicks try to exert some leverage, however, to convince him to take a more team-friendly deal, or the aforementioned two-way contract slot, Nickel could decide to test the college waters. He will almost certainly make more money in college than in the NBA this season. But doing that also means delaying the clock on future earnings at the NBA level. The Knicks are not facing a disaster. They will retain his rights. So if he goes to light it up for Vanderbilt, or Kentucky, or St. John's next season, he will be right back here with New York in a year. But if they are counting on him for this season coming up, then they need to find a way to pay him. I'm a little bit greedy. I don't want any of the Knicks rookies to go play anywhere else unless they physically have to, or the Knicks are being forced to make that decision other than playing with the Knicks. Whether it's with the New York Knicks or the Westchester Knicks, I don't care. As long as they're part of the team and can play at the NBA level, whenever the Knicks want to call any player up from Westchester, I want them to have the ability to do that. However, as I said before, it's not really that big of a deal. If Tyler Nickel feels like he can get more money and experience at the college level, then I say let him go. Go back to college if that's what he really wants. Let him play another year, get more experience, work on things that the Knicks specifically tell him to work on, and make that money at the college level. And then when he's done, he can come back to the Knicks, either on a two-way contract, or if at that time, New York has more roster flexibility, they can sign him to a standard NBA deal. Either way, I have no problem with whatever decision Tyler Nickel makes. At the end of the day, whether he's in college, or after that college year, he comes back to the Knicks, or he plays for Westchester next season, it doesn't matter. He can be wherever he wants to be. At the end of the day, New York owns his draft rights, and he will forever be a New York Knick, until New York decides to trade him. Which I hope they don't, because that shooting, that lethal three-point shooting that he displayed in Summer League in Las Vegas, that is already NBA ready. He can join the Knicks right now, come off the bench, and that shot will go in, because that's how good he is. I know that, you guys know that, even Tyler Nickel knows that, but he needs to improve other areas of his game, like defense, like being able to rebound better, like being able to score inside. There are a number of different things I can mention that he still needs development in.