3 things to know about newest Knicks wing Svi Mykhailiuk

The New York Knicks made two signings over the weekend by re-signing free agent guard Ryan Arcidiacono and signing guard/forward Svi Mykhailiuk to a one-year, partially guaranteed contract. The former spent the 2021-22 season with the Knicks, while the latter played for New York’s Atlantic Division rival, the Toronto Raptors.

The 2022-23 season is right around the corner. In exactly one month, the Knicks will be taking the court in Memphis. In honor of New York’s newest signee, let’s take a look at who Svi Mykhailiuk is.

3 things to know about Knicks’ newest signing Svi Mykhailiuk

3: The Lakers drafted him with the No. 47 pick in 2018

The 25-year-old’s career began with the Los Angeles Lakers after they drafted him with the No. 47 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. However, he played in 39 games for the Lakers that season before he was traded to the Detroit Pistons along with a 2021 second-round pick for none other than Reggie Bullock.

Mykhailiuk, who was on LA’s team plane at the time, was made aware of the trade by teammate Ivica Zubac in February. The Lakers were hoping that Bullock (who went on to sign with the Knicks during the offseason) would come in handy for the playoffs, but Los Angeles failed to make it to the postseason after finishing in 10th place in the West with a 37-45 record.

With the Lakers, Mykhailiuk averaged 3.3 points, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in 10.8 minutes while shooting 33.3% from the field and 31.8% from the three-point line.

2: Mykhailiuk played in a career-high 56 games for the Pistons, Raptors

Out of the four teams that Mykhailiuk has played for before joining the Knicks (Lakers, Pistons, Thunder, Raptors), he’s only spent a total of two full seasons with two of those teams.

In 2019-20 (the season after he was traded from LA to Detroit), he played in a career-high 56 games (27 starts) for the Pistons and averaged nine points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 22.6 minutes while shooting 41% from the floor and 40.4% from deep. During the 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago, Svi represented Detroit in the Rising Stars Game.

In the middle of the 2020-21 season, he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, where he averaged a career-high 10.3 points in 30 games (nine starts).

During the 2021 offseason, Mykhailiuk signed a two-year deal with Toronto, where he appeared in 56 games for the Raptors. Last year, he averaged 4.6 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in 12.8 minutes while shooting 38.9% from the field and 30.6% from the three-point line.

At the end of August, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Toronto was waiving Mykhailiuk and would be eating the $1.9 million that he was owed for 2022-23.

1: He’ll add more shooting to the Knicks’ roster

Now, let’s delve into why New York decided to sign Svi Mykhailiuk. For a Knicks roster that doesn’t have a lot of shooting (along with the Evan Fournier trade rumors), Svi will help to fill a need for New York. As mentioned, during his full season with the Pistons, he shot 40.4% from behind the arc. That’s not bad for a six-foot-eight wing. He’s a career 35.3% three-point shooter.

Mykhailiuk won’t be seeing the court a lot for the Knicks, but he’ll be more than a shooter in New York. He was born in Cherkasy, Ukraine, and is one of two Ukrainian players in the NBA. Svi played for Ukraine at FIBA EuroBasket 2022, where he averaged 17 points, five rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 2.2 steals in six games. His 2.2 steals led FIBA EuroBasket. That surely has already caught Tom Thibodeau’s eye.

After struggling to find a fit in the NBA, hopefully Svi Mykhailiuk will have a solid year in New York.

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