The Knicks just found their next STAR...

Last year, a 19-year-old in the NBA G League had NBA teams offering him a two-way contract and 10-day deals, and he said no. And now the New York Knicks just picked up a future star in the process, as he turned down the NBA to go to college. He committed to Providence in April, and then the NCAA told him he couldn't play. So last week, he left school, and the Knicks signed him and waived him to an Exhibit 10 deal a move that sends him right back to where he started the Westchester Knicks and his name is Dink Pate and I think he might be the best bargain the Knicks have because there's a player on an NBA roster he could replace and doing it could save them real money with James Dolan refusing to go into the second apron so I'm going to show you his numbers what actually happened at Providence and why he could be the guy who takes Pakhom Dadiy's spot and runs with it giving the Knicks a future star at the small forward position but also the point guard position as well and tell me in the comments right now before you see the numbers would you rather have Dink Pate or Pakhom Dadiy and I'll tell you my answer in the end Dink Pate is from Dallas he was a top 30 recruit in high school and instead of going to college he turned pro at 17 with the G League Ignite in 2023 the Ignite were the G League's team for top prospects who skipped college and playing there at 17 against grown men is not easy. He scored eight points a game that year and shot 34.8% from the field. Rough, but he was a high school-aged kid. Then, a year with the Mexico City Capitanes, he went undrafted in 2025 and played summer league for the Knicks, and the Westchester Knicks would decide to keep his rights. And last season in Westchester, he broke out. In 36 season games, he averaged 16 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game. Count the tip-off tournament, too, and it's 50 games at 16.4 points per game. He was even better in the tip-off tournament. And in those 14 tip-off tournament games he won, he was even more of a creator. 17.3 points and 4.7 assists per game. Playing almost 35 minutes a night, Westchester put the ball in his hands. But here's the part that gets me. Look at the jump. His rookie year with the Ignite, he scored eight points a game, then 10.1 in Mexico City, then 16 in Westchester. Every year, a bigger step was taken, and the shooting is where it really changed. In his first G League season, he made 21.4% of his threes. The next year, he made 25.8%. Last season, he shot 36.9% on almost 8 attempts per game, showing he is a shooter now too. His true shooting went from 43.1% to 48.7% to 56.2%. That is what development looks like. A 6'8 guard who handles it, rebounds, passes, and now makes threes at a high-volume clip. And for a guard, he rebounds like a forward. Last season, he grabbed 19.2% of the available defensive rebounds when he was on the floor, and 11.7% of all rebounds. That's the 6'8 frame showing up with elite athleticism. He also used 23.4% of Westchester's plays when he was on the floor. So this isn't a role-player padding stats. He was one of the main options on the team. And remember, he is still 20 years old. Most guys his age are juniors in college. Dink Pate is ready to break out and become a future star for the Knicks. So why did a guy putting up 16 points per game turn down an NBA contract? Well, it was to keep his college eligibility, but there's a catch there. Back in April, his agent Sam Permut of Roc Nation told ESPN's Jeff Brazello that Pate turned down a two-way and 10-day opportunities to maintain his eligibility, and he committed to Providence. Those deals also likely came from the Knicks amidst other teams as well. Now, the problem is the NCAA. On December 30th of last year, NCAA President Charlie Baker posted that the NCAA has not and will not grant eligibility to players who signed NBA contracts, including two-way deals. Pate never signed a two-way, but he did play last season on an Exhibit 10 deal with Westchester and Providence never got the approval it was asking for and on October 16th he withdrew his coach of Providence Brian Hodgson didn't hold back he said Dink Pate will always be a Friar and we fully support his decision and about the NCAA he said fair no not even close but life is not fair and the Friars will fight on and Pate wasn't the only one Providence had two more players in Joseph Pinion and Derek Simpson fighting eligibility rulings with a court hearing set for October 19th. This is bigger than one player. Hodgson even said a lawsuit wasn't off the table, but there are things that need to happen before that's even an option. Pate couldn't wait for that. The G League season was about to start without him, so think about this. He turned down the NBA to go to college, and the NCAA, well, they left him with no team six months later, but the New York Knicks know how good he is, so they were waiting patiently for their guy. And the timing was right. Exhibit 10 contracts can only be signed up until October 19th. Pate left Providence on the 16th, and the Knicks had him signed on the 17th. They didn't wait around. The day after he left Providence, the Knicks signed him to an Exhibit 10 deal and waived him. That's the standard move to get a player to your G League team, and it means if he spends at least 60 days in Westchester, he can earn a bonus of up to $91,000 on top of his G League salary. Now, here's why this actually matters for the Knicks. Pacom, Dadié, and his contract. The Knicks took Dadié 25th overall in 2024. He's 21, and in two NBA seasons, he's played 47 games, averaging 1.7 points in about five minutes a night, and he's made only 25.5% of his threes. Now, to be fair, he did put up 22.2 points per game in the G League last season, but hasn't cracked the Knicks rotation, and he shot 16% from three at Summer League this year. And the Knicks, they're already paid into this. Dadié's in his third year of a four-year, roughly $13 million rookie year, and they picked up this season's money last October. And he's been on the trade block for over a year. Eurohoops reported that the Knicks were shopping him before last season. Sports Illustrated's Knicks site says moving him might even cost the Knicks a second-round pick after Philly had to attach one just to move on from Johnny Broome. So line them up. but Pacome Dadié is 21 years old and hasn't found a role in the NBA as the last man off the Knicks bench. Pate is 20, a year younger, already a 16 point per game scorer in the G League, and he's never cost the Knicks any sort of draft capital. And it's not like you'd be swapping totally different players. Both are bigger guards who can also play either forward spot. They could really play the one to the four, all three of them. Well, Dadié should not be playing the one, but Pate could play the one to the four, if we're being completely honest with ourselves. And the difference is one of them is already on a guaranteed NBA deal and hasn't shown he can play in the rotation. And the other one is costing the Knicks nothing right now, putting 16 points per game up down one level and doing it at an efficient rate while getting 6.6 rebounds and nearly four assists per night. So here's how I'd do it. When the Knicks do evidently trade Pacome Dadié, which is going to happen, even if it does cost them picks, and I think they will do this, it'll open up a roster spot. you can call Pate up from Westchester and put him in. Same kind of player, a big guard with length, he's younger, he's cheaper, and because he would sign an NBA rookie minimum deal, it would actually free the Knicks up enough space to not only have they already signed James Wiseman they have, but they could call up Bruce Brown once again and say, hey, now we have money for you. Now this changes, now we have a 15-man rotation and a rookie guard who we like a lot better than Pacome Dadié. On the other side of things, the Knicks could also put Dink Pate on a two-way deal and at the same time decide, hey, let's put Tyler Nickel on a rookie minimum contract. We like Nickel. We like his shooting. We want that available for the NBA playoffs when the time comes. We think that actually does matter more for a specific role, something I honestly wouldn't argue with and wouldn't mind either. Both Pate and Nickel and also even Jaden Akins are guys who the Knicks love and want to keep around for a while, even though they're not on full-blown deals. And the money is where this gets really, really good. In June, James Dolan said this about the second apron. We cannot go into the second apron. We're willing to stretch, but there's certain things in the NBA you'd have to be suicidal to do. So every dollar matters. Dottie A makes $2,983,680 this season. If Pate, who's never played an NBA game, signs a deal, his minimum this season would be $1,357,763. That's about $1.6 million cheaper. for a younger player who just outplayed him in the G League. And because the Knicks are a luxury tax team, well, every dollar they save also saves some luxury tax on top of it, which we know James Dolan won't mind. We already saw them think this way this summer. They wanted to re-sign Mitchell Robinson, but knew it would have sent them into the second apron. So they let him walk in free agency, and they chose to sign Andre Drummond instead, who signed a one-year $3.9 million contract. It was cheap. He's still just as useful and under the apron. Pate is that same idea. almost 13 years younger though and then next year it's even bigger Dottie A's salary is a team option worth over five million dollars let him go and replace him with Pate and you're not paying that either and if they don't want to use a standard roster spot at all there is the two-way contract they could sign Pate to as well which pays 678,882 dollars this season and doesn't count against the cap. So that's my answer to this question from the start. I would take Dink Paye. He's younger. He's cheaper. Honestly, he's better and trending upwards every single year where Dadié has not really had any progress whatsoever right now. The Knicks just got him back for nothing, which is a steal. And when Dadié does inevitably get traded, I want Paye in that set with the Knicks roster. Here's what I'll be watching in Westchester this year, because those Westchester Knicks games are fun, man. I am not kidding around. Does the three-point shot hold up to 37% from deep? Can Dink Paye keep that going? Because that is the big difference maker. Can he cut down the turnovers? Last year, a 2.4 per game. Obviously, he's young. Young guys turn the ball over, especially when you do have the usage rate and the ball dominance that Dink Paye has. So I think he actually will cut it down to a degree. If both those things happen, he won't be in the G League for long, and other teams will come calling this time around, and Paye will accept their deal. So, the Knicks are going to have to be ready to take him and get him on a contract. Now, if you want more Knicks breakdowns like this, the G League guys, the Cavs stuff, the moves nobody else is covering, subscribe to the Knicks Digest and turn on notifications. Thank you so much for watching. Like this video. Turn on post notifications. Have a great day, guys. Or as I just said, turn on post notifications more than once, and go Knicks.