Knicks Forward Faces Important Summer League

New York Knicks forward Pacome Dadiet is back for a second go-around at the Las Vegas Summer League.

The French teenager is a year removed from being the No. 25 overall pick by the Knicks in the first round out of Ratiopharm Ulm, one of the top rising teams in Germany. During his first year in the NBA, Dadiet struggled to make an impact in the world's biggest league, but he is still one of New York's top prospects.

The Athletic insider James Edwards III emphasized the importance of Dadiet performing well in Summer League.

"Dadiet will turn 20 shortly after summer league comes to a close. By no means does he have to be close to a finished product anytime soon. However, I think it’s important for him to show progress sooner rather than later so that the franchise can feel comfortable investing real reps into him during a championship-or-bust season," Edwards wrote.

"... In the G League, where he played significantly more, he had underwhelming shooting numbers. The 19-year-old only shot 40.6 percent from the field and 31.9 percent from 3 in 14 games with Westchester. Again, he’s a teenager and doesn’t need to be perfect, but given that he had already played professional basketball in a respectable league before getting drafted, you’d like to see some consistency in the G League."

Dadiet is expected to be in the G League more in the 2025-26 campaign, but the team needs to see some kind of progress to keep him around.

If Dadiet is stagnant in his development, the Knicks may feel he would be better utilized as a trade asset than a piece to the championship puzzle.