Malcolm Brogdon may not be on a guaranteed contract, but he is talking like someone who’s been promised a roster spot. Not only that, but he sounds as if the New York Knicks have told him that he’ll have a major role in the rotation.
“I view myself as having a skillset and being a versatile enough player to crack any rotation in the league,” he told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “So, I expect to do that here as well.”
Brogdon’s path to serious playing time seems complicated on paper. After Jalen Brunson, the Knicks have a handful of guard options in Jordan Clarkson, Deuce McBride, and Tyler Kolek—not to mention Landry Shamet if he winds up making the final cut.
Yet, while Brogdon could just be displaying the usual amount of self-belief for which pro athletes are known, all signs point toward this being an informed viewpoint.
Malcolm Brogdon didn’t have to sign with the Knicks
Players on non-guaranteed contracts are assured of nothing. The lack of security implies that you don’t have better options if you’re signing one. Otherwise, why put pen to paper?
Except, Brogdon’s case is different. He apparently had other options on the market, but chose New York for the chance to legitimately contribute to a title contender. That in itself suggests the Knicks signed him under the pretense they would find a guaranteed spot for him by the end of camp.
Paving the way to keep Brogdon and Shamet will require the team to jettison one of its other players. To that end, Bondy notes that Deuce McBride and Pacome Dadiet are the names generating the most buzz around the league. Offloading Tyler Kolek is also a scenario the Knicks are bound to explore.
Punting on players under cost-controlled contracts for the next two seasons to fit in more veteran-minimum deals is a debatable play from New York. But the collateral damage will not stop there.
It sounds like Brogdon is coming for someone else’s rotation spot
For argument’s sake, let’s assume the Knicks create room for Brogdon and Shamet by moving Dadiet. That does nothing to clear up the guard logjam.
Does this suddenly mean Brogdon, if healthy, is in line to get playing time over McBride, who’s apparently up for grabs? Is Clarkson’s rotation spot already in jeopardy? Will Kolek ever see the light of day?
Decisions get easier if Kolek is the player shipped out to open up the required space. But that in itself could be uncomfortable. It says a ton about the Knicks’ belief in Brogdon if McBride is the player who gets dealt away.
No matter how the Knicks go about their roster-spot gymnastics, this all seems like it ends with Brogdon playing a bigger role than the timing and terms of his signing ever could have suggested.