The Westchester Knicks selected Matt Ryan and Landry Shamet with the No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks in the 2024 NBA G League Draft on Saturday afternoon.
Here are a few notes for that:
The Knicks’ draft plans were reported earlier by Marc Stein.
Drafting Shamet allows him to rehab his shoulder dislocation with the organization. There was initial optimism that Shamet can avoid surgery. That optimism remains. The Knicks can maintain roster flexibility and have a spot for Shamet if he makes a full return from the shoulder injury.
There is mutual interest between Ryan and the Knicks.
New York currently has 12 players on traditional NBA deals.
They can have fewer than 14 players on standard deals for no longer than 14 consecutive days and no more than 28 total days in a season.
So New York has to add two players by no later than Nov. 5.
If they converted Ariel Hukporti’s deal from a two-way contract to a standard deal, they would then be able to sign Ryan on a two-way contract.
They have enough money under the second apron to convert Hukporti and sign Shamet. But it seems logical for the Knicks to wait to sign Shamet until he is closer to returning to the court.
The second apron is a hurdle for the Knicks.
The Knicks currently have $3.6 million in room between their own team salary and the second apron ($188.9 million).
New York’s team salary cannot exceed the second apron. The club is hard-capped at that amount due to the Mikal Bridges trade.
