Malcolm Brogdon’s sudden retirement from the NBA comes as a blow to the New York Knicks’ secondary ball-handler rotation. It may also be the surprise development that saves Pacome Dadiet’s job.
The prevailing assumption has been that New York would trade the 20-year-old wing to create an additional roster spot, and give it the space beneath the second apron required to sign two veteran-minimum deals. One of those two contracts all along seemed earmarked for Brogdon. Everything changes now that he’s calling it a career.
Sure, the Knicks could still use another ball-handler. But keeping both Garrison Mathews and Landry Shamet doesn’t fill that void. Both provide more on-ball juice than Dadiet at this stage. Neither is equipped to organize the offense.
That is what New York needed from Brogdon more than anything else: a floor general to sponge up reps here and there, if not play a little more frequently than that. And without a true alternative to his skill set, the front office could be resigned to keeping Dadiet.
Signing two more veterans no longer makes sense
Punting on Dadiet’s future—or even Tyler Kolek’s remaining upside—was a debatable hypothetical even when penciling in Brogdon for a roster spot. It doesn’t make any sense now.
Unless the Knicks have a surprise floor-general candidate in mind, their default signings would be Shamet and Mathews. The three-point volume provided by both fits within the team’s desire to chuck more triples, but they are also mostly redundant when looking at their weaknesses.
Neither should be saddled with a Brogdon-level of ball-handling. Nor should either of them be tasked with guarding wings. They are essentially pure 2s, with perhaps a smidgen of upward positional malleability.
If the Knicks are intent on having another ball-handler in the rotation, he’s already on the roster. Kolek versus Brogdon may have been a debate. Kolek vs. Shamet or Mathews isn’t even a contest. Kolek is bound to do more as a table-setter. Chances are, then, signing both Shamet and Mathews would leave one to waste away on the bench.
Dadiet could always be traded later
Brogdon calling it quits does not guarantee Dadiet will finish the season in New York. At this point, though, he should absolutely begin the year in The Mecca.
The Knicks presumably aren’t so low on Dadiet that they just want him off the roster, period. It’s a different story if they do. But he has piqued the curiosity of head coach Mike Brown. He is also among the team’s only wings after Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart—a fairly big deal given that the latter is dealing with a back injury, and plans to play the season in a finger splint.
Betting on the faintest chance Dadiet turns into a cost-controlled wing who can contribute beats prioritizing veterans who, right now, don’t adequately address New York’s biggest need. If Dadiet doesn’t work out, so be it. He will be cheap enough to move midseason, perhaps in a deal that lands them an actual backup ball-handler or wing.
Basically, if the Knicks’ decision comes down to signing one of Shamet and Mathews and keeping Dadiet or moving Dadiet to keep both, they shouldn’t have much to mull over.