The game was over before it started.
Knicks head coach Mike Brown decided to rest his entire starting lineup on Monday night, including key reserves Landry Shamet, Josh Hart (back), and Ariel Hukporti. This left a depleted second and third unit to take on the Washington Wizards in the fourth of five preseason games.
Even against a Wizards team projected to finish with the NBA’s worst record for a second straight season, the outcome wasn’t much of a mystery.
Washington secured a 120-103 victory at Madison Square Garden, expanding their lead to as much as 36 points before benching their own key players, including C.J. McCollum, Khris Middleton, 2024 No. 2 pick Alex Sarr, and Bilal Coulibaly.
The defeat lowers the Knicks’ preseason record to 3-1, with one final exhibition game remaining before their regular-season opener back at MSG on Oct. 22 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
KOLEK SHINES, DADIET STILL SEARCHING
With limited offensive options available, point guard Tyler Kolek took the lead for New York. The second-round pick scored a team-high 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the bench, adding six assists, four rebounds, and a steal in 23 minutes. Miles McBride contributed 11 points on 12 shot attempts, while Guerschon Yabusele ended with 11 points on 50% shooting.
But all eyes were once again on Pacome Dadiet — and once again, the results were uneven.
The 2024 first-rounder started but struggled to find rhythm in his 25 minutes, scoring eight points on 2-of-7 shooting (2-of-6 from three) with two offensive rebounds and little else on the stat sheet.
Before tipoff, Brown was optimistic about the 6-8 wing’s potential but acknowledged the raw edges still showing.
“He just needs to keep realizing how big he is. He’s long. He’s a big wing. Sometimes he doesn’t take advantage of that. We often discuss playing big and he doesn’t always utilize it, and that’s just being young,” Brown said. “And sometimes he’s a bit quiet because he’s young and not sure what he should be saying or doing, so we try to put him in challenging situations as much as possible, which is something I want to do.”
Dadiet has now shot just 7-of-21 across four preseason games, and his role heading into the regular season remains uncertain — especially with New York facing difficult cap decisions.
Brown said he isn’t sure how many minutes Dadiet will get once the games count, and there’s a scenario where his salary is included in a trade to help the Knicks remain below the second apron if they choose to keep both Malcolm Brogdon and Shamet on standard contracts.
“I don’t know how many minutes [Pacome] is gonna get per game, but he definitely has a chance to be a player in this league for a long time, and you wanna help try to speed that development up because you see a lot of good things,” Brown said. “You see he can run, he can cut, he’s big so he does a pretty good job of finishing, and he can shoot the basketball, and you couple that with his ability to play defense, and you have a pretty good prospect, especially for his age.”
WHAT’S NEXT
The Knicks close out their preseason on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden against the Charlotte Hornets. After that, the coaching staff will finalize roster decisions — and shift focus to ensuring the starting five is ready to open the season with a statement against a Cavaliers team that won 64 games a year ago.
