The defending NBA champions are bringing back one of their most important bench pieces.
Landry Shamet is running it back with the New York Knicks.
The veteran guard intends to sign a new four-year, $24 million deal to return to the defending NBA champions, per ESPN's Shams Charania, with his agent George S. Langberg of GSL Sports Group working alongside Knicks executives on Monday to land the long-term commitment.
New York Over Bigger Offers
The 29-year-old had no shortage of interest heading into free agency, and league executives widely expected him to draw attention from contenders looking to add a proven shooter off the bench, according to Ian Begley.
Multiple teams around the league had been eyeing Shamet all offseason after his playoff shooting made him one of the most sought-after role players available.
Instead, Shamet chose to stay in New York, where he helped end a 53-year championship drought this past season, turning down the chance at what likely would have been a bigger payday elsewhere.
It is not the first time he has left money on the table to stay with the Knicks, either, as he reportedly passed on bigger offers last summer just so he could compete for a ring.
Shamet originally joined New York on a training-camp deal and only won the final roster spot after Malcolm Brogdon retired before the season started.
From there, he turned a minimum-salary contract into an important role on a championship team.
During the regular season, Shamet averaged 9.3 points on 43.7 percent shooting while connecting on 39.2 percent of his threes across 51 games, and he raised his play even higher in the postseason by shooting 47.5 percent from deep on 3.2 attempts per game throughout the Knicks' title run.
What This Means for the Rest of the Roster
Locking Shamet in was one of the biggest priorities for a Knicks team that went 53-29 in the regular season and posted a 16-3 playoff record on the way to the franchise's first title since 1973, but the deal also limits what the front office can do from here.
Owner James Dolan has stayed firm about not pushing the team's payroll into the second apron, and with roughly $14 million in remaining space below that line and several roster spots still to fill, the Knicks are working within very tight margins.
The most direct result of those limits appears to be the likely departure of Mitchell Robinson, the longest-tenured player on the roster, who is expected to leave in free agency after the front office determined it could not match the offers he will get on the open market.
Losing Robinson means New York will need to find a backup big man through a trade, and names like Nick Richards and Kevon Looney have already come up as possible targets.
Beyond the center position, the remaining roster spots will likely be filled with minimum-salary signings around a core led by Jalen Brunson, who averaged 26.0 points per game and took home Finals MVP honors during the title run.
