Landry Shamet is getting healthy.
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said as much ahead of tipoff in an elimination NBA Cup game against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.
The sweet-shooting two-way guard whose season abruptly halted due to a preseason dislocated shoulder opted against getting surgery and has made “steady progress” in his rehab.
“He’s feeling pretty good,” Thibodeau said pregame on Wednesday. “The big thing is he’s going step by step. He’s taking contact on now, so he’s getting closer.”
Shamet’s progress is good news for a Knicks team that entered the Hawks game ranking dead-last in bench scoring by a sizable margin.
The Knicks’ reserves average 21 points per game, though that number projects to increase with Precious Achiuwa’s return to the lineup after missing the first 22 games of the season with a hamstring strain. The Los Angeles Lakers’ bench, who rank 29th, averages 24.9 points this season.
New York, however, has been able to monitor Shamet’s progress after their developmental team, the Westchester Knicks, selected him with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NBA G-League Draft. Not to mention Thibodeau, who is high on Shamet, has frequently mentioned him as part of the second unit even though he hasn’t played a game since the preseason injury.
The Knicks will be able to re-sign Shamet for the rest of the season once he is cleared to return to basketball activities, but someone will have to go, and not because the Knicks don’t have an open roster spot (they do), but because they don’t have room to sign him to a minimum contract.
The Knicks became hard-capped at the $188.9 million second apron after they took back more salary in the Mikal Bridges trade than they sent out. And after converting the two-way contracts of both 58th overall pick Ariel Hukporti and sharpshooter Matt Ryan — Westchester’s No. 1 overall pick in the G-League Draft — to standard NBA deals, New York has $188.3 million in payroll, leaving just under $581,000 beneath the second apron.
The Knicks need at least $1.8 million in room beneath Apron No. 2 to fit Shamet’s contract. With six years of NBA service, Shamet’s minimum salary is $2.6 million, but with respect to the salary cap, the collective bargaining agreement treats all minimum contracts for players with three or more years of experience as if they are a two-year veteran — subsidizing the rest to allow teams wiggle room in free agency.
Which makes Ryan, who has appeared in 41 total minutes since joining the roster on Nov. 6, and his non-guaranteed $1.9 million cap hit expendable for Shamet, who was part of a three-guard unit featuring Cam Payne and Miles McBride that brought pace, space and point of attack defense to the Knicks’ second unit.
If they waive Ryan, the Knicks would be able to bring him back on a two-way contract, though they would need to create an opening by waiving one of Boo Buie, Kevin McCullar Jr. or Jacob Toppin.
Shamet still has hurdles to clear and must build trust back in his shoulder’s ability to take contact. If the Knicks choose to bring him back, a battle-tested veteran with playoff experience would rejoin a roster hoping to compete for a title.
Shamet is a 38.4% career three-point shooter and has played for three playoff contenders: the 2018-20 Los Angeles Clippers, the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving-led 2021 Brooklyn Nets, and the 2021-23 Phoenix Suns, where he shared the floor with both Payne and Bridges.
Shamet averaged 10.8 points and made nine 3s on 30 attempts through the Knicks’ preseason prior to his injury.
ROSTER MOVES
The Knicks recalled Hukporti, Pacome Dadiet and Tyler Kolek from Westchester ahead of their NBA Cup matchup against the Hawks, but they listed Hukporti as out after spraining his ankle in a G-League game earlier in the morning.
“We’ll know more tomorrow,” Thibodeau said. “Day-to-day is what I’m being told.”
Depth at the five has been a sticking point for the Knicks, who now must rely on Karl-Anthony Towns, Achiuwa and Jericho Sims as Mitchell Robinson continues to work his way back from ankle surgery.
