Explosive Biwali Bayles joins New York Knicks

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Lightning quick Sydney Comets guard Biwali Bayles has signed with the New York Knicks for the 2025 Summer League in Las Vegas, Nevada between July 10 and July 20, 2025.

Bayles, 23, has been lighting it up in NBL1 East this season, averaging 28 points per game, 6.1 assists, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.7 steals for the 11-3 Comets.

Sydney Kings head coach Brian Goorjian has been at several Comets games at their Maddox Street headquarters in the past two months ahead of joining the Knicks coaching staff for the Summer League tournament.

Kings assistant Billy Tomlinson and star forward Xavier Cooks were both at the Comets vs Sutherland Sharks clash in Sutherland for the first game after the Comets signed Illawarra Hawks NBL Grand Final star William "Davo" Hickey.

Hickey, 26, is also suiting up in Summer League but the team he will play for is yet to be revealed.

Bayles signed with the Sydney Kings as a 19-year-old in April 2021 and won the NBL title in 2022 before leaving the club in January 2023.

Former Sydney Kings captain and Comets CEO Ben Magden said: "Biwali is not just an incredible player, but a positive role model for our community."

Hickey and Bayles have formed one of the most formidable backcourts in the 2025 NBL1 competition. Hickey was a Comets junior and returned to his former club in mid-May to play with long-time friend Bayles.

"I’m really excited to be back playing at my junior club," Hickey said at the time.

"It’s been a long time and just excited to be around the boys. I’m a competitor and just want to win."

Armchair critics will wonder how a player from NBL1 can make the leap to the NBA Summer League but Bayles is an elite shot maker with elite quickness and clearly coach Goorjian has seen enough in his game to make a recommendation. It's unclear whether Goorjian played a role in Bayles signing with the Knicks but being in the stands at Comets, being part of the Knicks' Summer League program is hardly a coincidence.

Both Hickey and Bayles playing Summer League in mid-July will mean more responsibility for rising star Anthony Mundine III in the Comets backcourt but Sydney has done enough to make the NBL1 playoffs, more than likely just in time for both men to get back from the States and fight for the title.