Undrafted Jaylen Martin trying to impress on the Knicks’ summer league squad
The Knicks’ NBA2K24 Summer League team is devoid of a 2023 first round pick. That’s because the Knicks didn’t have any picks in last month’s NBA Draft. So most of the focus in discerning which players have the potential to be part of the team’s future rotation has been on second-year guard Trevor Keels and undrafted free-agent Jaylen Martin. Both are on two-way contracts.
After being one of the highest rated high school basketball players in the class of 2021 out of Paul VI Catholic in Chantilly, Virgina, Keels spent one year at Duke before being taken by the Knicks in the second round (No. 42) in last year’s draft. The stout, 6-foot-4, 19-year-old shooting guard from Clinton, Maryland, split time this past season with the NBA squad and their G League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks.
Martin’s path next season will also be in the NBA and G League. The 19-year-old from Florida was coached in high school at the Florida State University School in Tallahassee by former Knicks player Charlie Ward before transitioning to the Overtime Elite (OTE) program. While playing for the YNG Dreamerz, he faced Amen and Asur Thompson—who were drafted No. 3 (Houston Rockets) and No. 4 (Detroit Pistons), respectively, last month, in this year’s OTE championship. The Dreamerz lost 3-0 to the twins’ City Reapers.
Heading into the third of their five summer league games last night (Wednesday) against the Orlando Magic, Keels has so far not stood out in the Knicks’ two summer league games this weekend against the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets. In the Knicks’ 110-101 loss to the 76ers, Keels was 1-6 for two points in 14 minutes playing in the starting lineup. He was 3-7, including 2-6 on 3-point attempts, for eight points in 19 minutes versus the Nets in a 98-80 Knicks defeat.
The 6-foot-6 Martin showed more upside, scoring 12 points in 26 minutes versus the Sixers coming off of the bench, and then 15 points, logging a team-high 34 minutes as a starter facing the Nets. Although Martin shot poorly, missing eight out of 11 3-pointers and going 5-14 overall, he said he found his footing as the contest progressed.
“I feel like as the game went on, I loosened up and was able to play my game,” he said.
Knicks summer league head coach Dice Yoshimoto said there will be inherent highs and lows for young players as they navigate a learning curve.
“He did some good things and things he needs to work on,” Yoshimoto said, referring to Martin. “Anybody coming into this league…has to learn how to be a pro. Since the draft he’s done that. He’s been in the gym all day. He’s a gym rat.”
The Knicks play the Boston Celtics tomorrow (7 p.m. ESPN2) and will finish their schedule against a yet to be determined opponent, date, and time.
Knicks forward Josh Hart, who opted into the final year of his contract at $12.9 million at the start of this year’s free-agency period, which began at the end of June, will represent Team USA at the FIBA World Cup, which will take place from August 25 to September 10 in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia.
The Team USA roster also includes Hart’s Knicks teammate Jalen Brunson, the Nets’ Mikal Bridges, 2023 NBA Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero, and NBA All-Stars Tyrese Haliburton, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Anthony Edwards.
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