Though he did not play in the NBA Finals, rookie Dillon Jones contributed to the team's championship victory by advising coach Mike Brown, a testament to the coach's humility, according to Jones.
Jones, who is currently vying for a spot on the Knicks roster, shared that Brown sought his input on managing the pressures of the Finals. Following Jones' advice, the team rewatched their Game 3 loss to the Spurs, a motivational tactic that had previously been used by the Thunder when Jones was a reserve guard.
"With coach, honestly, it speaks a lot to just him more than me and whatever I had to say," Jones said Monday after the summer league squad defeated the Pistons 86-75. "The fact that he would even approach me and have a conversation with me or even ask me to help in any way. … I just think it speaks to him more than me — his humility to hear everybody out in the building. And I’m just glad I was able to help the team in any way."
Jones described the suggestion to rewatch the game as emerging from organic conversations with Brown. "Nothing specific. Just conversations me and coach had," Jones said. "And we were just talking about different things, and it came up in an organic conversation. It wasn’t like I was just sitting home plotting on what to say or anything like that. … These things — you try different things all the time. You never know what works and what doesn’t. I’m glad I was able to help the team."
In other summer league news, rookie Jack Kayil led the team with 19 points and three steals in 29 minutes during their first summer league win. Jones praised Kayil, calling him "very talented" and "super gifted," noting his quick understanding of the team's strategy despite a late arrival due to a contract dispute with his former German club. Kayil has expressed a desire to avoid being stashed overseas this season.
Separately, veteran center Jonas Valanciunas appeared to dispute reports of a finalized deal with Lithuanian team BC Zalgiris, posting laughing emojis on social media and stating, "You wake up and see that everything has been decided for you, don’t need to do anything myself. Thank you, reporters." Despite his post, a signing with Zalgiris is still considered likely. Valanciunas, 34, is a free agent after being waived by the Nuggets and has been reportedly targeted by the Knicks, who have a limited center rotation with Karl-Anthony Towns and Andre Drummond.