Tuesday, Nov. 5, was an important date for the New York Knicks. No, not because it's Election Day, but because the team needed to add two more players to standard contracts to meet the 14-man roster requirement.
On Monday, New York and rookie Ariel Hukporti agreed to a two-year standard deal with a team option in 2025-26. He was previously on a two-way contract. The Knicks also agreed to a standard deal with Matt Ryan. New York selected Ryan in the 2024 G League draft, but another team could've signed him. The terms of Ryan's deal are unknown.
The New York Knicks and forward Matt Ryan have agreed to a deal, league sources told @hoopshype. Ryan shot 45.1 percent from 3-point range for the New Orleans Pelicans last season. Ryan, who was born in White Plains, New York and played for Iona Prep in New Rochelle, returns home pic.twitter.com/5xqYPGW4QJ
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) November 4, 2024
Converting Hukporti's deal left the Knicks with an open two-way spot. It didn't take long for them to fill it. On Tuesday, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that New York signed Boo Buie to a two-way contract.
The New York Knicks are signing guard Boo Buie to a two-way NBA contract, sources tell ESPN. Buie spent time with the Knicks in training camp and takes an open two-way after the signings of Ariel Hukporti and Matt Ryan.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 5, 2024
The Knicks signed Buie to an Exhibit 10 deal during the offseason but waived him. The 24-year-old is from Albany and spent five seasons at Northwestern before he went undrafted in June.
Knicks and Matt Ryan agree to standard deal, sign Boo Buie to two-way contract
Ryan previously spent time with the Celtics (2021-22), Lakers (2022-23), Timberwolves (2022-23), and Pelicans (2023-24). He's a career 41.1% three-point shooter on an average of 2.9 attempts per game.
New York traded Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota as part of the Karl-Anthony Towns trade. Landry Shamet was expected to get a roster spot, but he dislocated his shoulder in the preseason. The hope is that Shamet will return later in the season, but the Knicks opted to sign Ryan in the meantime. New York needed more shooting off the bench.
Buie left Northwestern as the program's all-time leading scorer. In his final season, he averaged a career-best 19 points, 5.0 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game, shooting 43.8% from the field and 43.4% from deep.
Buie played with the Suns at Summer League and averaged 9.0 points, 2.0 assists, and 1.4 rebounds per game. He must've made a good impression with the Knicks during his brief stint before he was waived. It will be fun to monitor his progress with Westchester.
Stay tuned for the details of Ryan's contract. It will likely be non-guaranteed.