Skip Bayless Called Tyler Nickel a Steal in Round 2. He Might Have a Point.

The New York Knicks had a busy draft night, swapping picks and moving around the board before finally settling on Vanderbilt forward Tyler Nickel with the 47th overall pick. Plenty of Knicks fans probably didn’t know much about the 6-7 wing coming out of the SEC. But Skip Bayless? He knew.

Bayless, a Vanderbilt alum himself, went straight to social media to call his shot. “The rich get richer! The champion Knicks just picked the steal of the second round, 6-7 Tyler Nickel from the greatest school in America,” he wrote. “Trust me, he can SHOOT IT. #AnchorDown.”

Okay, so Bayless is clearly biased. He went to Vanderbilt. He’s probably watched more Commodores basketball in a given season than most of us watch in a lifetime. But bias aside, his point is worth looking at. Because the guy actually has tape to back it up.

What Nickel brings to New York

Nickel spent four years in college, two at Vanderbilt after transferring in. His last season was his best. He played 36 games, averaged over 30 minutes a night, and put up 13.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists. The shooting splits tell the real story: 44.5 percent from the field, 40 percent from three, and a strong 84.7 percent from the free-throw line.

That three-point number isn’t a fluke either. Outside of his freshman year, Nickel shot 39 percent or better from deep every season. For a Knicks team that already has a championship core and a system built around spacing and shooting, a guy who can knock down catch-and-shoot threes at that clip fits like a glove.

The Knicks have a tendency to find these types. Undervalued college shooters who slipped on draft boards because of age or athletic limitations but who plug into a system and just work. Nickel is 22 years old, which means he’s not a teenager with upside. He’s a finished product. But that product — a 6-7 wing who shoots 40 percent from deep with a quick release — is exactly the kind of thing depth charts are built on.

Bayless might have overstated it by calling him the steal of the entire second round. But the Knicks needed shooting off the bench, and they got a guy who has done it at a high level against SEC competition for two straight years. That’s not nothing.

The Knicks have not commented on any specific rotation plans for Nickel. But given their track record of developing second-round picks into rotation contributors, it’s a bet worth watching.