The Knicks appear to be leaning toward hanging onto two of their veteran camp invitees for the regular season, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic, who hears from league sources that guards Malcolm Brogdon and Landry Shamet are the frontrunners to make the team.
Due to their lack of flexibility below a second-apron hard cap, the Knicks would have to make a trade in order to retain both Brogdon and Shamet. According to Edwards, the front office has had conversations with rival teams about second-year forward Pacome Dadiet, who would be one of the team’s prime trade candidates in that scenario.
Dadiet has had a good offseason behind the scenes, Edwards writes, which has perhaps made the Knicks less inclined to trade the Frenchman, who was the 25th overall pick in the 2024 draft.
However, his salary ($2.85MM) makes him a more logical trade candidate than fellow 2024 draftee Tyler Kolek ($2.19MM), given the slim margins New York is working with. Edwards also believes Dadiet is more likely than Kolek to warrant a worthwhile return on the trade market, though he cautions it probably wouldn’t be more than a second-round pick or two.
The Knicks are currently carrying 12 players on standard contracts, plus Brogdon, Shamet, Garrison Mathews, Alex Len, Matt Ryan, and Mohamed Diawara on non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 and/or Exhibit 10 deals. If New York retains Diawara (who is on a rookie minimum deal) and one of those vets, the team’s salary for its regular season roster would be about $148K below its hard cap.
If the Knicks were to trade Dadiet without taking back any salary, then kept two non-guaranteed vets alongside Diawara, that breathing room below the hard cap would increase to roughly $700K. If the club were to trade Kolek instead of Diawara and hung onto two vets and Diawara, the distance from the hard cap would shrink to just $44K. Trading Ariel Hukporti in order to keep both Brogdon and Shamet wouldn’t be an option, since Hukporti’s cap hit isn’t big enough to swap it out for an extra veteran minimum deal.
Unless the Knicks are inclined to make a much more significant deal, which seems unlikely, Miles McBride would be the only other trade candidate on the bench, but Edwards would be surprised if the front office makes a move involving McBride, who is expected to play a regular rotation role.
If the Knicks don’t find a trade they like ahead of the regular season, they’d only be able to carry one of Brogdon or Shamet into opening night, but the front office could continue exploring trades during the season in order to create some additional back-end roster flexibility and re-sign one of those players (or another free agent).