{"id":142256,"date":"2026-08-07T19:41:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T19:41:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/142256\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T19:41:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T19:41:30","slug":"knicks-draft-pick-jack-kayil-makes-decision-on-nba-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/142256\/","title":{"rendered":"Knicks draft pick Jack Kayil makes decision on NBA future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Jack Kayil is officially a draft-and-stash prospect. <\/p>\n<p>The Knicks\u2019 second-round pick (No. 39) is heading back to Europe.<\/p>\n<p>He signed a new five-year contract with Alba Berlin, the German team he played with last year. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast season was super successful and I enjoyed a lot \u2014 that\u2019s why I\u2019m all the more excited to stay in Berlin,\u201d Kayil <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DbvJjmlsbFM\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">said in a statement<\/a>, originally posted in German. \u201cCan\u2019t wait to pick up where we left off. The NBA is and remains a big dream of mine \u2014 and ALBA is the right place for me to continue that path. The club has already helped me take the decisive steps in this direction. I\u2019m just happy and grateful to be back in this incredible environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:0.75;display:block\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"40233683\" width=\"443\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/user-expressly-acknowledges-agrees-downloading-134741472.jpg\" alt=\"Jack Kayil drives to the rim during the Knicks-Mavericks Summer League game on July 17, 2026. \" class=\"wp-image-40233683\"  \/>Jack Kayil drives to the rim during the Knicks-Mavericks Summer League game on July 17, 2026.  NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>The Knicks will retain Kayil\u2019s draft rights. <\/p>\n<p>The 20-year-old Kayil was with the Knicks at Summer League, where he expressed his desire to stay with the team rather than be stashed overseas. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy goal is to play in the NBA,\u201d Kayil said. \u201cThat\u2019s why I went into the draft. \u2026It\u2019s not my decision, so I\u2019m just trying to show myself in the best way, and it is what it is. I\u2019m super happy I also got drafted, and we\u2019ll see what happens in the next days, weeks, whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.40082079;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"40233720\" width=\"826\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2281912033.jpg\" alt=\"Jack Kayil \" class=\"wp-image-40233720\"  \/>Jack Kayil signed a new contract with Alba Berlin.  Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>The Knicks seemingly didn\u2019t feel like he was ready to contribute next year, though. <\/p>\n<p>Kayil likely would have had to sign a two-way deal and spend time developing in the G League. <\/p>\n<p>He averaged 8.8 points \u2014 on 34.2 percent shooting from the field and 22.7 percent shooting from 3-point range \u2014 along with 3.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds in the four Summer League games he played in Las Vegas. <\/p>\n<p>A playmaking point guard, Kayil helped Alba Berlin win the Bundesliga championship last year \u2014 recording 10 points, three rebounds and a steal in the title game against Bayern Munich. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cSkillwise, he\u2019s still a work in progress, but his athleticism and toughness give him a chance someday soon to be an NBA player,\u201d \u00a0Fran Fraschilla, ESPN\u2019s college and overseas basketball analyst, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/06\/25\/sports\/fran-fraschilla-tells-the-post-why-he-trusts-knicks-draft-process\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">previously told The Post of Kayil<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m guessing that the Knicks think he needs a little bit more seasoning. I would be surprised if he was on the roster, but he wouldn\u2019t embarrass himself. But he\u2019s not ready to be a contributor on an NBA championship team.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s improving. He\u2019s headed toward being an NBA player. I don\u2019t know that he\u2019s there yet, but he certainly made a big step this year, winning a championship. He was a focal point as a 20-year-old on a team with men, grown-ups.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Knicks still have all three of their two-way contract slots available. <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jack Kayil is officially a draft-and-stash prospect. The Knicks\u2019 second-round pick (No. 39) is heading back to Europe.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[99],"tags":[112,190,6306,68186,135],"class_list":["post-142256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-berlin","tag-berlin","tag-germany","tag-nba","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/117055932943313445","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}