Knicks Playing Long Game With Rookie

When the New York Knicks selected Pacome Dadiet with the No. 25 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, they made him one of the youngest players in the league at just 18 years old.

Since the draft, Dadiet has turned 19, but he has also begun his long process towards becoming a contributor for the Knicks on the regular.

The Knicks knew it would be a long-term project with Dadiet, and they are giving the French forward a lot of patience as he adjusts to life in the NBA.

“If you take a young kid, like [Dadiet], the guy we just drafted,” Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson said h/t Posting and Toasting. “You take him—to me, you got to give him a window. A college window. Four to five years. You can’t give up on a kid who is going through his college years in the NBA.”

So far this season, Dadiet has appeared in five games for the Knicks, averaging 2.0 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. He hasn’t gotten the same kind of opportunities that have been granted to fellow rookies Tyler Kolek and Ariel Hukporti, but those guys have a few years of experience on Dadiet, and there have been better chances for those two to see the floor.

With the Knicks trading much of their future draft capital to the Brooklyn Nets in the Mikal Bridges deal, Dadiet holds a lot of value for the team. The Knicks will invest in him for a while in hopes that he can be the player they saw in him at the end of the first round of this past draft in June.

The Knicks are back in action tonight against the Nets. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET on YES and MSG.

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