Signs Don’t Look Promising for Kevin McCullar and a Knicks Return

A few weeks ago in Las Vegas, the New York Knicks Summer League squad was without a trio of young players who contributed to the club last year. While it was unsurprising seeing Tyker Kolek graduate from Sin City, it was notable that Trey Jemison III and Kevin McCullar Jr. were both absent.

Then earlier this week, Jemison signed a two-way contract with the Raptors, ending his run in New York for good. It's easy to view this as a harbinger of McCullar following the same exit path, since both spent last season on two-way deals with New York and then were both missing from the Vegas roster.

After all, another guy—Pacome Dadiet—from the same draft class did suit up at Summer League for the Knicks, which doesn't paint McCullar's potential return in an optimistic light.

Kevin McCullar Jr. isn't essential for Knicks to bring back, despite improvements this past season

Two summers ago, fresh off being drafted No. 56 overall by the Knicks, McCullar, didn’t join the Knicks in Summer League while rehabbing an injury suffered during his days at Kansas. Is it possible there's a new injury that we haven’t got wind of, especially given his health history?

As a senior with the Jayhawks, the hard-nosed wing put up a career best 18.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 26 games. He was on his way to being an All-American but missed the last few weeks of the year and the NCAA tournament due to a bone bruise in his right knee.

The injury caused McCullar to slide in the draft and miss all of training camp. There was no update on his status for months until he magically appeared in the G League that January. In 13 games for the Knicks' minor league affiliate in Westchester, McCullar averaged 11.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 27.8 minutes.

During his rookie campaign, McCullar only saw NBA action for 29 minutes. It’s never been easy for youngsters to get minutes for Tom Thibodeau, so it was essentially a redshirt year. But that changed thanks to the hiring of coach Mike Brown.

Mike “Mad Scientist” Brown showed trust in the kids during the regular season and everyone got a real chance to make an impact. For McCullar, that chance came two days after Christmas in Atlanta. He was the first reserve off the bench and saw a then career-high 23 minutes. He scored 13 points, snagged eight rebounds (four offensive), recorded two steals and knocked down 3 of 6 shots from long distance.

There were times where McCullar looked like a Josh Hart-in-training and that he's ready to be a plug-and-play guy in Brown’s system. However, he saw more than ten minutes of playing time just four more times the rest of the way, including the last game of the season when all the starters sat.

Once again, McCullar got some seasoning in the G League, where he suited up in 14 games for the Knicks G-League affiliate in Westchester, where he averaged 16.8 points and 6.2 assists while shooting 29.9% from three. Meanwhile, in 21 games with the big club, McCullar 2.4 points and 1.3 rebounds in 7.4 minutes. He knocked down 8 of his 24 3-point attempts.

All in all, McCullar had a successful sophomore campaign, but it wasn't anything substantial, especially for a team now set on defending a title. It’s odd to not have heard anything about a potential return, but New York's new reality after winning a championship and looking to secure another may play a part in ultimately going a different direction.

The Knicks are the only team in the NBA without a single player signed to a two-way deal, so that provides one bit of hope for anyone wanting to see him return.

Get Knicks On SI straight to your inbox: sign up for our free newsletter here.

Add us as a preferred source on Google