In an effort to keep veterans Malcolm Brogdon and Landry Shamet in the backcourt, a potential trade could be on the horizon for the New York Knicks. For the first time in 20 years, they reached the Eastern Conference Finals last season, and could making a return next season. For many, the Knicks' title-or-bust season is 2025-26.
However, keeping Brogdon and Shamet would mean the Knicks have to make a trade ahead of the regular season, as SNY reporter Ian Begley noted.
“The Knicks have signed Malcolm Brogdon and Landry Shamet to nonguaranteed contracts ahead of training camp. If they want to keep both players on the regular-season roster, they will have to trade one of their players signed to a traditional NBA deal,” Begley said. “They need to do this because their team salary cannot exceed the second apron this season. There are many different trade routes the Knicks can take to keep both Brogdon and Shamet. A trade of either Pacôme Dadiet or Miles McBride would clear enough cap space to sign both veterans.
“The Knicks can also trade Tyler Kolek and have enough space under the second apron to sign both Brogdon and Shamet.”
The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder proved that depth is key when it comes to competing for a championship. The same could be said about the 2024 champion Celtics, who will enter the upcoming season without All-Star Jayson Tatum, clearing a path for their division rivals, the Knicks, to return to the Eastern Conference Finals.
“Trading Kolek and signing both vets would leave New York just $44,000 under the second apron,” Begley added. “Unless they made another trade, in this scenario, the Knicks wouldn’t be able to sign another veteran on a pro-rated contract during the season. New York used this approach last season when signing veteran P.J. Tucker in March.”
Busy offseason keeps Knicks below NBA's second tax apron
The Knicks signed veterans Malcolm Brogdon and Landry Shamet alongside Garrison Mathews on Thursday and Friday. All three agreed to non-guaranteed deals, giving the Knicks ample time to part ways with one of their players under contract.
After Guershon Yabusele left $185,000 on the table for his first season with the Knicks, it gave the Knicks the flexibility to sign free agents before making a move that can give them the cap space to sign Brogdan and Shamet to standard deals, as cap analyst Yossi Gozlan reported per The Third Apron.
“That plan would leave the Knicks with just under $150,000 in space below the second apron,” Gozlan said. “That is virtually no breathing room to make additional moves in the season.”
However, the Knicks would still have a deep rotation throughout 2025-26.
