Knicks Have Just One More Hurdle to Clear With Tyler Nickel Now

It appears that the Knicks are adding rookie sharpshooter Tyler Nickel to their 2026-27 season roster after much uncertainty.

According to The New York Post’s Jared Schwartz, there is “momentum” towards Nickel joining the Knicks for this upcoming season, rather than using the extra year of collegiate eligibility he and other class of 2022 athletes were recently given by a U.S. District Court ruling. There had been rumors Nickel may go back to school to pursue a large NIL pay day.

Now that Nickel seems to be passing up on this opportunity to cash in, it just leaves one big question: What kind of contract will he sign with New York?

Knicks have two contract paths with Tyler Nickel, both with pros and cons

If the Knicks sign Nickel to a two-way contract, he’d fill one of the three open spots they have open for two-way players. New York is currently the only team in the NBA without a single two-way player signed.

Most recently, when the Knicks selected Ariel Hukporti near the end of the second round in the 2024 Draft, they initially signed him to a two-way contract, but he landed a standard contract a few weeks into the regular season. Two-way players can’t play in the playoffs, but anyone on a standard contract can play in the postseason.

It'd be great for New York to land Nickel on a only two-way, and thus maintain more roster flexibility, but his strong Summer League also raised his stocks. Between his Vegas showing and giving up a lucrative return to college, Nickel surely wants to be rewarded. That could mean first giving him a two-way, but with the intention (or even a handshake promise) to sign him to a standard deal at some point this season.

There’s also a chance the Knicks sign Nickel to a standard Second Round Pick Exception contract right off the bat. This allows NBA teams to sign their second-round picks to standard deals without requiring cap room or another exception to do so.

Of course, New York also needs a third-string center, but only has room for one more signing. So inking Nickel to a standard deal would prevent another front-court addition for the time being, or it'd require someone else to be moved to add both him and another big to the main roster.

The Knicks could prioritize making Nickel happy and seeing what centers pop up down the line, then pursue moving someone else to clear room closer to the start of the season. New York could use most of its two-way spots on big men to provide some emergency help in the early going if it wants to get Nickel on the roster now.

However, Nickel probably wouldn’t crack the NBA rotation right away, so signing him this early to the main roster isn't a no-brainer. Like we’ve seen with Pacôme Dadiet, the Knicks would probably like Nickel to develop his game in the G League.

This underscores the two-way vs. standard contract dilemma. The former comes with less commitment and more opens for the team, but it probably isn't Nickel's main hope. Meanwhile, the latter would lock him down long-term, but it'd require more roster shifting due to cap and roster constraints for a player who's still a relative unknown.

The aforementioned Dadiet could help sort out this predicament. Nickel is already the better bet to make an impact in an NBA game despite Dadiet being a recent first-round pick who's entering his third year. Dadiet is a career 25.5% shooter from three and very much struggled once again in the Summer League, while Nickel definitely didn’t.

Dadiet could be even more expendable now with Nickel trying to join the roster. Like as discussed on Monday, trying to send out Dadiet for a backup big like Yvess Missi as matching salary in a trade now seems like the team's best path forward. It'd free up money and roster space, which could be used on both Nickel and a third center signing.

Nickel offers strong shooting from long range and was one of the best shooters available in this summer’s draft. Around 70% of his shot attempts in his final year of college were from beyond the arc, so he’d profile similar to Landry Shamet, but his level of play on the defensive end is probably nowhere near NBA-level.

According to The 5th Factor, Vanderbilt had a +22.8 NETRTG with Nickel on the floor during the 2025-26 NCAA season, opposed to a +7.0 NETRTG with him off the floor. Much of that impact came on offense, as Vanderbilt had just a +1.0 bump in DRTG with him on the floor.

There are shades of former Virginia guard Kyle Guy in his game—but Nickel is about six inches taller than Guy, so there’s a higher defensive floor due to his size. But similarly to Shamet, Nickel excelled in transition in his last season at Vanderbilt, posting a +5.2 rTS% (relative true shooting percentage) and 41.2% 3P% in transition.

This promising collegiate profile, coupled with a great Summer League, would make keeping Nickel around a massive win for the Knicks. They just have sort out the specifics and determine what they're willing to do to bring Nickel in and still be able to address the frontcourt.

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