The recent string of signings may have come as a bit of a surprise to some New York Knicks fans, as the belief all offseason has been that the ball club should be looking to address its big man depth.
Adding the likes of John Konchar, Bruce Brown, and Ochai Agbaji to an already stacked wing rotation is far from addressing this area of the roster.
However, even with these arrivals, the Knicks still seem to have an interest in snatching up another backup center, and, based on their latest move, they're open to trying out a former high-end lottery pick to take on the role.
James Wiseman has little competition for backup Knicks center role
On Tuesday, it was announced that New York had inked soon-to-be seventh-year pivot James Wiseman to an Exhibit 9 contract, giving him a training camp invite with the club.
Since being selected second overall by the Warriors back in 2020, Wiseman has struggled mightily both with injuries and with earning consistent playing time. Over the last two seasons, he's played a combined five games and has averaged just 3.8 points and 1.8 rebounds on 57.1 percent shooting from the floor.
Of course, before this lackluster stretch, Wiseman found himself amid somewhat of a revival run with the Pistons, as he posted 8.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, and just shy of a block throughout a one-and-a-half-year sample size.
Still only 25, the once-promising prospect still has youth and innate athleticism on his side. Perhaps he has the potential to show enough to New York during camp to, at the very least, follow in Trey Jemison's footsteps and earn a two-way deal for the 2026-27 season.
What bodes well for him at this point is that, at least for the moment, his competition at the five heading into camp is rather nonexistent, with his lone two challengers being the older and more capped talents of Drew Eubanks and Liam Robbins.
Knicks don't need to rush things with their signings
Even though training camp is only a few weeks out and the regular season tip-off is just over a month away, the Knicks shouldn't feel obligated to rush any signings.
After all, they already meet the league's minimum roster size of 14.
In theory, New York could simply opt to play out this season without bringing on another player to their arsenal, though obviously adding someone else should be the ultimate aim.
However, that doesn't mean they need to rush things on this front.
Considering their status as top dogs of the league following their 2026 NBA Championship, they are in as good a situation as anyone where they could realistically choose to hold off on a signing until more enticing talents become available mid-season via the trade market or, even more cost-effective, the buyout market.
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