The final Summer League game for Jaden Akins and the New York Knicks took place on Friday night and it was one final opportunity for the former Michigan State star to make his pitch for a roster spot.
While I don’t think he did enough in Summer League play to really earn an NBA roster spot with the reigning world champs, I do think that he’s going to get another G-League opportunity because you don’t just go from All-Star to out of the league because of a couple of bad performances in the middle of July.
Akins had one truly bad performance mixed in with a couple of good ones and he looked the part against the Golden State Warriors before the Summer League finale on Friday.
During that finale, the Knicks lost (again) and finished 1-4 in Summer League play while Akins had a decent game in 25 minutes off the bench. He played the second-most minutes on the team and he came off the bench to do so, scoring 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting. He also had three assists, two steals, and two rebounds, but finished with a disappointing -12 in the +/- column.
Although he didn’t play in a couple of the Knicks’ Summer League games, he did score in double figures twice but he did have that one 0-for-5 game where he scored just two points and struggled to really find his rhythm. That was his debut with the Knicks. After that, he scored 32 points over two games, leading the team in scoring against the Warriors with 21.
Was this enough to impress the front office? It’s safe to say he’s going to need more of a sample size in the G-League this season.
Jaden Akins’ Knicks tryout was a mixed bag
Will Akins force the Knicks’ hand with a two-way contract? It’s possible after his strong G-League season and a decent audition in the Summer League, says on Knicks writer. He claims that Akins is forcing the Knicks to really consider signing him after what he did last season and two of his three games in the Summer League.
I expected Akins to play with the Detroit Pistons’ Summer League team but with the guard-heavy look that they were running, I think the Knicks were the better spot for him this offseason.
Akins averaged 11.3 points per game for the Knicks and bounced back from an 0-for-5 performance to shoot 9-for-20 against Yaxel Lendeborg and the Warriors. That type of resilience and short-term memory is what’s going to make him attractive to an organization like the New York Knicks.
Summer League can make or break some young players, but I think it just solidified that Akins is a solid combo guard who can create for himself and others.
That’s a valuable asset to have nowadays in the NBA. We’ll see if it’s valuable enough for the Knicks to take a chance or we’ll see if the Motor City Cruise reach back out and try to get him back.
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