3:53pm: The Knicks announced that they’ve officially waived Shamet, Okeke, and Warren (Twitter link).
Okeke and Warren were always considered long shots to make the team once Shamet emerged as the frontrunner, but if Shamet requires a lengthy recovery process, it’s possible one of them could return to the Knicks 14 days into the season when they need to add a 13th man (Ariel Hukporti is expected to be promoted from his two-way deal to become the 14th man).
Warren plans to join the Westchester Knicks and will be a candidate for a promotion at some point this season, Ian Begley of SNY.tv confirms (via Twitter).
3:44pm: The Knicks are waiving injured guard Landry Shamet, sources tell Shams Charania and Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).
As we covered in detail this week, Shamet left Tuesday’s preseason game against Charlotte with an injury and was subsequently diagnosed with a dislocated right shoulder. Prior to going down in that game, he appeared on track to make the Knicks’ roster on his non-guaranteed minimum-salary contract, having enjoyed a solid preseason in which he averaged 10.8 points per game in four appearances.
However, the Knicks have very little roster and financial flexibility — after accounting for their 12 players on guaranteed contracts, they’re only about $3.58MM away from their first-apron hard cap, which they can’t surpass at any point during the 2024/25 season. As such, hanging onto Shamet and continuing to pay him while he recovers from his shoulder injury isn’t the best use of the team’s limited resources.
According to Charania, the Knicks will likely open the season with just their 12 players on standard guaranteed contracts. They’re allowed to carry fewer than 14 players for up to two weeks at a time and for up to 28 total days during the 2024/25 season, so they’ll have to add 13th and 14th men during the first week of November. They’d like to eventually bring back Shamet when he recovers from his shoulder injury, Charania adds.
Because Shamet had Exhibit 9 language in his training camp contract, the Knicks were protected in the event of a preseason injury and will only owe the 27-year-old just $15K rather than having to continue to pay his minimum salary until he’s healthy.
While Charania and Marks didn’t explicitly report it, Charania’s claim that New York will likely open the season with just 12 players on standard deals suggests that the team will also waive Chuma Okeke and T.J. Warren, the other veterans on non-guaranteed contracts.
Other players noting to themselves Knicks don’t care about their players just the bottom line.
i see what you mean, but there’s not much they can do when they’re already lacking in depth and financial flexibility … a dislocated shoulder probably isn’t going to heal too quickly ..