Breaking: Knicks Sign SG Landry Shamet

Since entering the NBA, Shamet is one of only 25 players to knock down more than 650 treys while shooting over 38% from 3PT range and posting a True Shooting percentage north of 57%.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN broke some news on a sleepy Saturday morning in September when he reported earlier today that the Knicks had signed veteran shooting guard Landry Shamet to a one-year contract. 

The move makes sense in that Shamet was one of the most talented/impactful free agents still left on the open market.

On the other hand, the Knicks have just one remaining roster spot, and signing a 6'4" shooting guard does not address New York's most significant need: adding a reliable, quality center to backup injury-prone Mitchell Robinson.

Yet, we still don't have the details regarding Shamet's contract. It's quite possible that it's a non-guaranteed deal, simply providing Shamet with the opportunity to compete for the Knicks' 15th and final roster spot in training camp while also providing New York with the flexibility to add a big man should one shake loose. Assuming Shamet signed a non-guaranteed pact, it would only become fully guaranteed if he is still on the roster on January 10th.

The other possibility is that New York signed Shamet using most, or even all, of their mid-level taxpayer exception (worth $5.2 million). The reason for going this route would be to potentially combine Shamet's salary with another expiring contract (such as Precious Achiuwa or Jericho Sims, etc.) in a later trade to upgrade the center position. Several teams have engaged in this form of "intentional overpay" to create a "human trade exception" that could pay dividends at February's trade deadline.  

As of yesterday, the Knicks had 14 players with fully guaranteed contracts and a trio of prospects (Kevin McCullar, Ariel Hukporti and Jacob Toppin) on two-way deals. New York signed Chuma Okeke to a non-guaranteed one-year deal and  Alex O'Connell to an Exhibit 10 contract earlier this summer. The Knicks can bring 21 players into training camp but have to whittle that number down to 15 by opening night.

Shamet, 27, is a proven commodity. Considering the importance of three-point shooting in today's NBA, a team with title hopes can never have too many reliable marksmen. Before a disappointing, injury-plagued season last year on the cellar-dwelling Wizards, Shamet had shot at least 37% from downtown in each of the first five seasons. 

Shamet has averaged 8.7 points and 1.9 made three-pointers per game for his career, converting 38.4% of his three-point attempts. 

On the opposite side of the ledger, he's never been a player who creates opportunities for others, averaging just 1.6 assists per game for his career. And as an undersized off-guard, Shamet has often struggled defensively, although his defensive metrics are better than you might suspect (he won't kill you on that end of the floor).  

Nonetheless, the reason a team signs Shamet is for his long-range accuracy. Since entering the league (he was originally a first-round pick by Philly in 2018), Shamet is one of only 25 players in the NBA to knock down more than 650 treys while shooting over 38% from behind the arc and posting a True Shooting shooting percentage north of 57%.