These pre-training camp signings can appear insignificant, but Landry Shamet showed just how impactful they can be
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Normally, a batch of Exhibit 9 contracts wouldn’t qualify as significant news. They’re non-guaranteed training camp deals, after all, the sort that teams typically hand out in bunches this time of year. But in the case of the defending NBA champion New York Knicks, however, those deals are potentially significant.
On Wednesday, the Knicks signed five players to those contracts: Ochai Agbaji, Bruce Brown, James Wiseman, John Konchar and Drew Eubanks. The Knicks currently have 13 players under guaranteed contracts for next season with a bit more than $3 million in room beneath the second apron. That essentially leaves them the space to add one player before the season starts, and we now know the five players who will compete for that final spot.
This competition proved hugely significant a year ago, when the Knicks brought in Landry Shamet, Malcolm Brogdon and Garrison Mathews to compete for their final roster spot under fairly similar financial circumstances. Shamet eventually became an essential role player for New York’s championship run and has since re-signed on a four-year deal.
The Knicks would obviously be thrilled to replicate that success with one of this year’s five signings, but the odds of doing so are usually low. Rarely does a player fighting for a team’s final roster spot even get the minutes needed to have such an impact. And even if those minutes arrive, there’s no guarantee that a player who was available for a camp deal in September would be able to take advantage of them. These are, in essence, low-odds signings. There are only so many Landry Shamets out there.
But they’re notable components of New York’s broader offseason plan, because, at least for the moment, the defending champions appear somewhat incomplete. In an effort to duck the second apron, the Knicks lost key backup center Mitchell Robinson, who signed with the rival Boston Celtics. He was nominally replaced by Andre Drummond, but that’s a downgrade to say the least.
We know the Knicks want at least one more big man on the roster. Before they signed any of these Exhibit 9 contracts, they tried and failed to trade for Yves Missi of the New Orleans Pelicans. They then tendered a restricted free agent offer sheet to Dallas Mavericks big man Moussa Cissé. Dallas matched, and New York moved on.
A path to adding a playoff-caliber center?
Eubanks, an experienced journeyman big, and Wiseman, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, are fliers at center. The Sacramento Kings squeezed some occasional minutes out of Eubanks last season, and while Wiseman has only played five games over the past two seasons due to a torn Achilles tendon, there is still upside through his draft pedigree alone. Still, in the long run, it’s hard to imagine either factoring seriously into New York’s playoff rotation.
If the Knicks are going to add another playoff-level center, it is probably coming through trade.
And that is where Brown, Konchar and Agbaji come into play. The Knicks theoretically could have thrown all of their camp slots at big men in an effort to cast the widest possible net, but instead, they signed three wings to an area of surplus. Shamet, Jose Alvarado, Jordan Clarkson and Miles McBride all seem unlikely to surrender their roles from last season, and both Mohamed Diawara and Tyler Kolek proved they’re ready for bigger roles during their rotation stints a year ago. The Knicks have a perimeter surplus, one that they can potentially trade from if one of those Exhibit 9 signings pans out.
The obvious candidate here would be McBride, who is entering the final season of his extremely team-friendly contract. He’ll make just below $4 million this season, but that’s a figure he could easily triple as a free agent next summer. He becomes extension-eligible during the season, but given their commitment to remaining below the second apron, the Knicks may not be able to afford to keep him. That likely depends on what they wind up giving Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart.
That makes McBride a realistic trade chip if the Knicks elect to pursue another big man at the deadline. Their options are relatively limited given how close they already are to the second apron. In all likelihood, they’d be targeting a center on a rookie deal or a very underpaid veteran. But with McBride on the table and their 2033 first-round pick now tradable, they have the ammunition to target such a player if he becomes available. For now, no such big man stands out. Maybe the Pelicans warm up to the idea of a Missi trade. Maybe another team with center depth or a draft-pick deficit emerges. If that’s the case, the Knicks will presumably be ready to pounce.
Are any of these five players likely to swing New York’s title defense? Probably not. Wiseman and Agbaji have upside based on draft pedigree. Brown has been a legitimate contributor on a championship team (the 2023 Denver Nuggets), but that same champion brought him back a season ago and was underwhelmed enough not to re-sign him this season. Eubanks has bounced around the league, and Konchar seemingly fell out of favor in Memphis. There’s a reason these players were available right before camp.
But the Knicks are as good as any team in the NBA at maximizing the margins. Shamet was a home run signing under these circumstances, and whether they do so directly or indirectly, one of these players has a chance to be similarly impactful by helping the Knicks replace the size they lost with Robinson.
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