By telegraphing their intent to make a trade that lets them sign two veterans, the New York Knicks are also hinting, loudly, at a stark departure from the Tom Thibodeau era: Their rotation is about to regularly stretch 10 or more players deep.
This is the only rational explanation for why New York seems married to, eventually, guaranteeing the contracts of both Malolcom Brogdon and Landry Shamet, at the likely expense of youth. The Knicks currently only have room enough beneath the second apron to add one veteran minimum contract. They are apparently “weighing various trade scenarios” to open up another slot, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see who is on the chopping block as a result.
Tyler Kolek is the most obvious form of collateral damage. As Stefan Bondy of the New York Post noted during a recent appearance on Knicks Fan TV, though, Pacome Dadiet or Deuce McBride could be shipped out as well.
The merits of jumping through hoops to squeeze in two veterans who, apparently, aren’t good enough to land guaranteed minimums from other teams is debatable. The message New York seems to be sending is not.
The Knicks’ rotation is going to look a lot different
Next season’s rotation already has nine locks on the board: Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mitchell Robinson, Josh Hart, Guerschon Yabusele, Jordan Clarkson, and if he survives the inevitable roster shuffling, McBride. At least one of Brogdon and Shamet will be added to the fold if both join the roster, bringing the total to 10 or 11.
New York’s commitment to depth skyrockets if it holds onto McBride over Dadiet or Kolek. His combination of defense and spacing is too valuable to loop into the “battling for minutes” crowd.
Stretching nine or 10 bodies deep would represent a massive departure from Thibs’ Knicks teams. He routinely relied on six to seven players, with anyone else logging fringe-rotation minutes, typically on an inconsistent basis.
This much depth also deviates from how head coach Mike Brown managed his rotation toward the end of his time with the Sacramento Kings. Their rotation was top-heavy—a reflection of the roster construction, sure, but he regularly relied extra-heavily on three or four guys in years past.
New York’s emphasis on depth isn’t necessarily a good thing
Adding more bodies to the rotation is almost always considered a positive development. New York shouldn’t be an exception. Thibs’ taxing regular-season workloads were among the biggest complaints from fans and pundits alike.
Still, the Knicks must weigh the opportunity cost of extending its potential rotation by two vets rather than one. Dadiet and Kolek are basically the only prospects on the docket. They are not in line for serious roles in 2025-26, but moving either one of them nukes New York’s player-development options, while also sacrificing cost-controlled contracts for placeholder deals that, in all likelihood, come off books after next season.
Brogdon and Shamet better be worth it. If either one winds up on the outskirts of the rotation, it will thrust the Knicks’ process and logic under the microscope.
For now, though, both the process and logic are clearly geared toward attaining one goal: deepening the rotation under Brown beyond anything we ever saw during the Thibs era.