The New York Knicks just traded for Jose Alvarado, but finalized their roster by signing Jeremy Sochan from the buyout market the San Antonio Spurs waived him. Draft expert Sam Vecenie explained on his podcast, Game Theory, that he loved New York’s depth after the move but didn’t understand why Sochan chose them over other suitors. Despite a great on-court fit, Vecenie told cohost Bryce Simon that the assumed lack of a guaranteed postseason role with the Knicks (and Sochan’s impending free agency) left him with more questions than answers about the move.
Vecenie wonders why Sochan chose New York to “rehabilitate his value”
It’s the exact reason that Vecenie likes the signing for New York that has him questioning the decision by Sochan. When ESPN reported the Knicks’ addition of the 22 year old, it was noted that there was interest on the buyout market in Sochan from at least 10 total teams. The Baylor product, and his management, presumably chose the Knicks over all of those other options, which left Vecenie wanting to know more.
“I really like this for the Knicks, I think it’s a great idea for them to go get another bigger body who can give them some versatility and flexibility on defense. Given that Sochan, like, had a choice here in theory, I’m like a little bit surprised that he’s choosing what I think is like a fairly risky situation, in terms of playing time for him, in order to try to like rehabilitate his value a little bit heading into free agency next summer? Like, I’m not like 100% sure Sochan’s going to be a playoff guy for them, based off what we’ve seen and based off what his offensive value has been so far. But I love it as a depth idea for the Knicks,” Vecenie explained to Simon.
Sochan’s pending free agency is going to be pivotal in his career. It’s tough to say that he lived up to expectations with the Spurs when his tenure ended with him being bought out. But when they drafted the defensive specialist at ninth overall, they must have been hoping for more impact. Despite playing out of position in his second season, Sochan clearly didn’t show enough afterwards to force the Spurs to factor him into their plans.
This season, Sochan averaged just 12.8 minutes per game in 28 appearances for San Antonio. His third season in the league, last year, could provide the best example of what teams can expect to get out of him. The Knicks, like Vecenie said, should be happy about adding this guy on the buyout market.
But for Sochan, who needs to prove to NBA teams that he’s worth their financial investment in the upcoming 2026 free agency period, deciding to add to the Knicks’ depth doesn’t guarantee him as much of an opportunity as joining a team plagued with injuries or generally bereft of talent might.
It seems like Sochan and his camp are betting that contributions in spurts to meaningful games will come across better to prospectively interested teams than putting up stats in losses for tanking squads. New York might even be the team that chooses to ink him to a deal in the offseason. It’s fair to assume whatever happens over the rest of this season will play a major role in that, when the time comes.