You never want to see a player down, holding his knee, especially not in Las Vegas, where prospective NBA players compete in Summer League for a chance to crack a regular-season roster.
Yet it was the unfortunate reality for NBA hopeful Obadiah Noel, the 25-year-old UMass-Lowell product who went undrafted in the 2021 NBA Draft and spent last season playing pro ball in Rwanda before joining the Knicks’ Summer League roster this offseason.
Noel, who’d seen minimal time on the floor through the first four Summer League games, got an extended run in Saturday’s finale against the Atlanta Hawks, as 2024 NBA Draft picks Pacome Dadiet and Tyler Kolek watched from the sidelines the entire fourth quarter.
He fell on the ground under the basket on an offensive possession in the fourth quarter, and teammate Amari Kelly landed — hard — on his knee.
Noel spent moments on the ground writhing in pain, then rose to his feet, making one of two free throws.
He then hit back-to-back threes to put the game out of reach, punching the Knicks’ ticket to a 90-82 victory, head coach Dice Yoshimoto’s third in five Vegas outings.
Noel finished with 15 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 shooting from downtown. He scored eight of those 15 in the final period.
Noel scored New York’s final seven points in the last 1:43 of the fourth quarter.
Like many others across all Summer League rosters, Noel is unlikely to earn a regular-season spot on the team he’s representing in Las Vegas.
After all, his extended time on the floor came as a result of starting guards Kolek and Duane Washington Jr. playing reduced minutes in the Summer League finale.
Knicks 2021 draft pick Rokas Jokubaitis also put together another impressive game, finishing with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists on 4-of-7 shooting from the field (albeit logging six turnovers).
Dadiet struggled, again, in the finale, shooting just 1-of-6 from the field and missing all four of his attempts from downtown.
Kolek finished with six points and six assists in 14 minutes on Saturday, marking his first Summer League game with fewer than seven assists.
The 34th overall pick out of Marquette has demonstrated playmaking chops and late-game poise capable of earning him a spot in the Knicks’ regular-season rotation.
Kolek ranked fourth in assists per game behind Isaiah Stevens, Zavier Simpson and Scottie Pippen Jr. before he was load-managed on Saturday.
The Knicks currently have 13 players with guaranteed contracts for the 2024-25 NBA season, plus another in Ariel Hukporti, the 58th and final pick of the 2024 NBA Draft, who is on a two-way deal.
The Knicks have two open roster spots and can sign two more players to two-way deals.
The Knicks are still in dire need of a backup center in the wake of Isaiah Hartenstein’s departure to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Both Hukporti and Dmytro Skapintsev played reduced roles in the Summer League finale. The Knicks can use the $2.5 million taxpayer mid-level exception to sign a free-agent center, exceed the salary cap to re-sign Precious Achiuwa, or acquire a big man in a trade with another team.
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