The Knicks have been busy lately. After signing Jordan Clarkson following a buyout with the Jazz, as well as Guerschon Yabusele earlier in the summer, New York found itself in a severe salary cap crunch, but that hasn’t stopped the team from trying to upgrade on the margins.
The Knicks added Landry Shamet and Malcolm Brogdon on training camp deals, and are reportedly hoping to keep both for the regular season, despite their cap limitations. They also signed Garrison Mathews, a sharpshooter like Shamet, along with Alex Len and Matt Ryan on camp deals.
Finally, they signed second-round draft pick Mohamed Diawara to a non-guaranteed deal while rounding out their two-way contract rotation with deals for Trey Jemison, Tosan Evbuomwan, and Kevin McCullar Jr.
For a team with limited space and money, the Knicks have done a good job of finding quality NBA players to compete for their final roster spot behind Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson, Miles McBride, Tyler Kolek, Pacome Dadiet, and Ariel Hukporti.
With Diawara expected to claim a roster spot due to his rookie-minimum cap hit, the Knicks technically have two more openings on their 15-man roster. However, without enough room below a second-apron hard cap to carry a full 15-man squad, retaining two more veterans would require a salary-shedding trade, likely involving one of McBride, Kolek, or Dadiet.
McBride is the most proven player of that group, having demonstrated his ability to contribute during the playoffs after a tough opening series against the Pistons. He’s on a team-friendly contract, but only for one more season after this one. While it’s unlikely McBride would be moved, his defense and shooting could appeal to a team looking to add an established backcourt contributor on the cheap.
Among the Knicks’ 2024 draftees, Kolek played more than Dadiet last season and showed himself to be a heady decision-maker, but he needs to be more consistent as a shooter to cover for his defensive limitations. While Dadiet played less than half the minutes of Kolek, his size (6’8″), flashes of shooting, and the fact that he’s four years younger than Kolek could make him a more attractive trade target for teams.
As for who will win the training camp battle for the final roster spot(s), Shamet appears to be a frontrunner. The 6’4″ guard played well when called upon by former coach Tom Thibodeau, operating as an effective off-ball shooting threat and giving good effort on defense. Head coach Mike Brown has reportedly put an emphasis on player movement this summer, which should play into the skill set of Shamet, as well as Mathews and Ryan.
Brogdon is the most accomplished of the players under consideration. He was named Rookie of the Year in 2016/17 and Sixth Man of the Year in 2022/23, had a season of shooting over 40/50/90 while scoring 15.6 points per game, and holds a career three-point percentage of 38.8%, as well as a career assist-to-turnover rate of 4.7 to 1.7. For a team that was lacking secondary ball-handling alongside Brunson last season, Brogdon’s ability to function in either guard spot and play alongside Brunson could be appealing, especially with the defensive concerns that could come with playing Brunson and Clarkson together for long stretches.
However, Brogdon comes with an extensive injury history, having played just 166 games over the last four seasons. The decision on Brogdon could come down to how comfortable the team is with his health, as well as his willingness to move the ball quickly.
The Knicks’ roster-building strategy this summer has been very focused on offensive-minded guards and wings. Brown faces an uphill battle when it comes to ironing out an effective defensive scheme, and starting Robinson could be one way that he addresses it.
Adding Shamet and Brogdon, along with Clarkson, would make for a roster crunch in the backcourt with McBride still there as the incumbent sixth man. Starting McBride could make it easier to slot the guards in around Hart and Yabusele, while also allowing McBride to take over the primary initiator defensive duties, a role that Bridges struggled with at times last season. This would allow the team to have three high-level wing defenders in McBride, Bridges, and Anunoby while also playing five shooters offensively.
If Brown decides during training camp to start the two-big lineup, it could change the team’s plans for the back of its roster. Brown coached Len for over two years in Sacramento, so there’s a built-in familiarity between the two. Jemison has less size than Len, but he could be viewed as a potential longer-term depth piece given that he’s only 25 years old.
We want to hear your thoughts. How do you think the Knicks should round out the final spots on their roster?
A not-insignificant number of Mavs supporters appeared ready to give up on the team after the front office traded perennial MVP candidate 
With little room to maneuver below their hard cap, the Mavericks will likely enter the regular season with their current 15-man standard roster. Outside of making a trade, the only option they would have to create some additional flexibility would be to waive Williams, whose minimum-salary contract is only partially guaranteed for $200K for now.
While that Wall/Westbrook trade may feel like ancient history, the traded pick involved in the deal continues to loom large over the franchise. It’s a big reason why the majority of the Wizards’ moves this summer weren’t about adding win-now help, but were instead about creating financial flexibility, taking fliers on former first-round picks, or continuing to accumulate future draft assets. Washington made four trades this offseason and each of them falls into one or more of those three categories.
It’s also not clear if Jones, who was acquired in that aforementioned trade with the Thunder, is someone Washington actually likes or if the front office just made the deal for the second-round pick that was attached to him. He looks like another potential release candidate.
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Minnesota also has enough wiggle room below the second apron to add a 15th man on a minimum deal or even using a modest portion of the taxpayer mid-level exception. But the Wolves are far enough into the tax that they’d be paying a penalty of $3.50 per dollar on that 15th man’s salary, so it would have to be someone they really like.
The other notable offseason move the Heat made as a result of their Butler trade was using the No. 20 overall pick in the draft on 
The front office will have a major decision to make next month on 
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That leaves Smith and Diabate. Smith is just two years removed from being selected in the first round of the 2023 draft, but he hasn’t taken a major step forward since entering the NBA, having made exactly 39.1% of his field goal attempts in both of his professional seasons. He played a more significant role last season, but the Hornets were outscored by 14.3 points per 100 possessions when he was on the court, compared to 6.3 points per 100 possessions when he wasn’t playing.
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Still, it won’t be a quiet October in Houston. The team has two big contract decisions to make, as both Durant (veteran) and