Saturday night was the deadline to make final cuts of players with non-guaranteed contracts. The New York Knicks had a battle on their hands debating whether to keep Landry Shamet or Garrison Mathews. Mathews was waived by the team Saturday afternoon, leaving Shamet with the final roster spot.
The handwriting was on the wall Friday night. When Garrison Mathews did not play in the final exhibition game against the Charlotte Hornets, it was a telltale sign that he was not going to make the team. It also spoke volumes that Landry Shamet played 20 minutes and tallied 11 points.
When Saturday rolled around and teams had to make their final non-guaranteed roster cuts by 5 p.m., Mathews ended up being cut from the Knicks roster.
Enter Shamet. Shamet was signed with Mathews and the recently retired Malcolm Brogdon to compete for what amounted to be one roster spot. The three signed non-guaranteed contracts this summer.
Brogdon made things a little easier on coach Mike Brown when he abruptly retired on Wednesday. Brogdon was projected to not only make the team, but he was going to compete for minutes in Brown's wide rotation.
Ultimately, it made for a two-man race, which Shamet would ultimately win.
“It’s been a competitive camp and I’ll tell you what, everybody that we’ve had in here deserves to be on the team, so it’s gonna be tough for us,” coach Mike Brown said to reporters after Friday’s game. “But we’ll make the decision because we have to.”
Shamet missed the beginning of last season with a shoulder injury. He still managed to play in 50 games averaging 5.7 points on 39.7 percent shooting from the field. He seemed to get more minutes in the postseason where he helped the Knicks advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
New York also waived Alex Len and Matt Ryan. The team also announced that Tosan Evbuomwan, Kevin McCullar, Jr. and Trey Jemison III will stay on their two-way contracts and be headed to Westchester for their G League assignments.
The Knicks currently have two roster spots open as they have not formally signed second-round pick Mohamed Diawara, who is still on an Exhibit 10 deal. Diawara impressed during training camp and the preseason. Diawara is expected to ultimately get one of them.
The Knicks have to get to the minimum 14 players under standard contracts after the second week of the season. They can carry a maximum of 15.