acknowledgement from Knicks owner James Dolan.<\/a> On a team in need of center depth, expect the rising sophomore back in orange and blue \u2014 especially at his salary figure.<\/p>\nAnton Watson: restricted free agent \u2014 $2M qualifying offer off two-way deal<\/p>\n
Watson appeared in nine games but primarily played in garbage time. He averaged 14.5 points and 7.1 rebounds on 58% shooting from the field and 41% three-point shooting two seasons ago as a fifth-year senior at Gonzaga, but the 24-year-old, 6-8 forward, like many young players during Tom Thibodeau\u2019s tenure, never got an opportunity to make an impact in meaningful minutes.<\/p>\n
MarJon Beauchamp: restricted free agent \u2014 $2M qualifying offer off TW deal<\/p>\n
Beauchamp is a former Milwaukee Bucks first-round pick (No. 24 in 2022) who was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers and subsequently cut by the Clippers before joining the Knicks on a two-way deal last season. The soon-to-be 25-year-old wing is 6-6, a career 35.4% three-point shooter who says he prides himself on the defensive end but never got a chance to prove it under Thibodeau.<\/p>\n
OWN UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS<\/p>\n
The Knicks will also have to make decisions on the following players, whose contracts have expired and are set to hit the open market:<\/p>\n
Delon Wright<\/p>\n
Acquired in the Sims deal with Milwaukee
\nStarted at point guard when Brunson, Cam Payne, McBride were hurt
\nWas a positive impact in the conference finals against the Indiana Pacers
\nUnder-utilized by Thibodeau until it was too late<\/p>\n
The Knicks may have advanced a playoff round had Thibodeau made the adjustment to leave Wright in the rotation when he proved he belonged in the regular season. But after Brunson, Payne and McBride all returned from their in-season injuries, Thibodeau relegated Wright back to his end-of-the-bench role. And Wright, a consummate professional, stayed ready for his moment, which came under duress for Thibodeau, who was forced to lengthen his rotation in the conference finals against the Pacers. Wright is a capable three-point shooter, a heady defender, and an ego-less playmaker who knows his role is to get the ball to the players paid to put the ball in the basket and space the floor in the corner on offense.<\/p>\n
Best decision: re-sign to a minimum deal \u2014 if available at that price<\/p>\n
Landry Shamet<\/p>\n
Start to season derailed by shoulder injury
\nWaived, rehabbed, then re-signed with Knicks
\nStreaky shooter, capable defender with loads of playoff experience
\n31 total minutes played in Rounds 1 and 2, 52 total minutes played vs. Pacers<\/p>\n
Shamet bounced back from a gruesome preseason dislocated shoulder to post his most-efficient three-point shooting season (39.7%) this decade. He found himself largely benched for the first and second rounds of the playoffs before Thibdoeau loosened the rotation after falling down 0-2 in the conference finals. Shamet led all regular rotation players in the conference finals with a positive net rating of plus-16.5 in Games 3-6 against the Pacers. Wright ranked second in net rating. No other player to see regular minutes finished with a net rating greater than 0.4.<\/p>\n
Best decision: re-sign at a minimum deal \u2014 if available at that price<\/p>\n
Kevin McCullar Jr.<\/p>\n
Steal at No. 56 in 2024 NBA Draft (injury history)
\nAveraged 11.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.6 steals in Westchester
\nThree-point shot needs work<\/p>\n
The Knicks don\u2019t even know what they have in McCullar Jr. because he never got a full opportunity to show it on the floor. A talented player whose career took a turn with a bone bruise in his left knee that ultimately required surgery, McCullar flashed some of those talents in the regular-season finale, where the 6-6 wing posted four points, eight rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block in 22 minutes against the Nets.<\/p>\n
Best decision: re-sign to a two-way deal, give opportunity to earn a conversion<\/p>\n
Precious Achiuwa<\/p>\n
Sustained debilitating hamstring injury in preseason and returned early, playing through injury, to help team
\nVersatile defender, can guard two through five
\nUnreliable three-point shooter, offensive threat
\nGrew uneasy with role entering the playoffs<\/p>\n
The Knicks used their only meaningful cap space last offseason to re-sign Achiuwa to a one-year, $6M deal while also convincing him to waive the no-trade clause standard with a one-year deal signed through Bird Rights. It was an experiment that ended poorly: Achiuwa got off to a strong preseason, but the hamstring set him back, and he never regained his footing and ultimately lost Thibodeau\u2019s trust on the floor. The Knicks can\u2019t afford to re-sign Achiuwa to the same kind of contract while filling out the roster and staying beneath the second apron, though it would appear neither side is interested in a reunion.<\/p>\n
Best decision: let walk in free agency<\/p>\n
Cam Payne<\/p>\n
Elite locker room presence
\nFlamethrower perimeter scorer capable of exploding on offense
\nCan shoot a team in and out of a game
\nPlayed in 72 games last season, was benched in conference finals for defensive reasons<\/p>\n
Payne lights up every locker room he walks into. But his shot selection left a lot to be desired, especially in minutes paired alongside higher-octane scoring options. It\u2019s part of the package. To Payne, what many players consider a heat check is a normal shot under any circumstances. The Knicks need a backup guard who can defend, get the ball to their dedicated playmakers, and take the best shot available, not the first shot available.<\/p>\n
Best decision: let walk in free agency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NBA Draft is in the rearview. Free agency is up next. And the Knicks, fresh off their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3768],"tags":[4990,7,11816,304,6,1136,191,3810,3806],"class_list":{"0":"post-130128","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-knicks","8":"tag-ariel-hukporti","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-cam-payne","11":"tag-knicks","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-knicks","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkknicks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114757962624346843","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}