After quite a bit of wheeling and dealing that saw them trade multiple picks this way and that way, the New York Knicks finally landed on the No. 47 overall pick in the second round of the 2026 NBA Draft, which they used on Vanderbilt forward Tyler Nickel. And count sports media personality Skip Bayless as someone who believes the Knicks got an absolute steal.
“The rich get richer! The champion Knicks just picked the steal of the second round, 6-7 Tyler Nickel from the greatest school in America,” Bayless wrote on social media. “Trust me, he can SHOOT IT. #AnchorDown.”
Obviously Skip Bayless is a little biased considering he is a Vanderbilt alum as well. But because of that, he probably knows Tyler Nickel’s game a little bit better than most Knicks fans, considering he actually watched Nickel play this past season.
Nickel played four years of college basketball, including the final two at Vanderbilt, where he put up career numbers. He appeared in 36 games in his final season with the Commodores, at a little over 30 minutes per game. He averaged 13.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists with splits of 44.5 percent shooting from the field, 40 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 84.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
With the exception of his freshman year, Nickel shot 39 percent or better from the 3-point line in his subsequent years of college basketball. So Bayless is right in that he can shoot the ball, and brings a skill set that the Knicks could make use of.
The post Skip Bayless reveals why Tyler Nickel is the steal of the 2nd round appeared first on ClutchPoints.
