What does the Malcolm Brogdon deal mean for the Knicks?

The New York Knicks have agreed to terms on a one-year deal with free-agent guard Malcolm Brogdon, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, adding another veteran ball-handling option behind All-NBA point guard Jalen Brunson after their reported (and perhaps misreported?) dalliance with Ben Simmons earlier this summer.

Brogdon, 32, is a nine-year veteran with the size (6-foot-4, 229 pounds, 6-foot-11 wingspan) and shooting skill (38.8% from 3-point range on 4.2 attempts per game for his career) to play on or off the ball. He’s been limited in recent years by a slew of hamstring, knee, foot and ankle injuries, making just 63 appearances over the past two seasons for the Portland Trail Blazers and Washington Wizards.

Malcolm Brogdon of the Washington Wizards drives to the basket against Johnny Furphy (right) of the Indiana Pacers at Capital One Arena on Feb. 12, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)

(G Fiume via Getty Images)

The signing continues the Knicks’ offseason effort to bolster their depth, giving new head coach Mike Brown more options alongside the incumbent core of Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride, especially on the perimeter. Early in this summer’s free agency period, New York signed former Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson and ex-Philadelphia 76ers forward Guerschon Yabusele. On Thursday, the Knicks reportedly agreed to deals with a pair of sweet-shooting guards, bringing back reserve Landry Shamet and bringing in Garrison Mathews, who spent the last three seasons with the Hawks.

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Shamet, Brogdon and Mathews all reportedly agreed to non-guaranteed contracts, and will enter training camp later this month competing to earn a roster spot in New York. As it stands, the Knicks have 12 guaranteed salaries on the books for next season, but because they’re hard-capped at the $207.8 million second apron, they only have the financial flexibility to be able to add one player on a veteran minimum contract and one rookie with a second-round pick exception. New York drafted French forward Mohamed Diawara with the 51st pick in June’s 2025 NBA Draft.

As presently constituted, then, the Knicks would only be able to keep one of the three of Brogdon, Shamet and Mathews … unless they make another transaction that moves a guaranteed contract and creates both roster and financial space:

A second-round pick out of Virginia in 2016, Brogdon broke onto the scene as a ready-made contributor in Milwaukee, slotting into a combo guard role for then-Bucks head coach Jason Kidd as a complementary piece alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo en route to Rookie of the Year honors (after Joel Embiid’s monstrous first pro campaign was cut short by injury). He’d develop into a dependable starter for the Bucks, joining the 50/40/90 club and playing a key role in Milwaukee’s explosion to 60 wins and the Eastern Conference finals under new head coach Mike Budenholzer in 2018-19.

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That summer, after ponying up to keep Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez, the luxury-tax-cautious Bucks decided against re-signing Brogdon, sending him to the Pacers in an $85 million sign-and-trade deal that made Brogdon the lead guard in Indianapolis. He performed well when on the court in Indiana, averaging 18.9 points, 6.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds in 32.9 minutes per game on 45/35/87 shooting splits across three seasons. Brogdon missed 81 games in that span with a variety of injuries, though, as the Pacers muddled through the end of the Nate McMillan era, the ill-fated one-year Nate Bjorkgren experiment, and the tanktastic first season of Rick Carlisle’s return before finding their way back to contention … without Brogdon, whom they traded to the Celtics in exchange for a package that included eventual Indiana playoff hero Aaron Nesmith.

Brogdon shined during his one season in Boston, winning the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2022-23, averaging 14.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 26 minutes per game off coach Joe Mazzulla’s bench, shooting 48.4% from the field and a career-best 44.4% from 3-point range as a key contributor on a Celtics team that made the Eastern Conference finals. Come season’s end, though, he found himself on the move once again — this time, to Portland, as part of the deal that made Jrue Holiday a Celtic and eventually delivered Boston’s 18th championship banner.

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The combination of injuries and the lack of a pressing need for his services on rosters in Portland and Washington that needed to take longer looks at their younger backcourt options have made Brogdon something of an “out of sight, out of mind” player for the past two seasons. When healthy, though, he’s an experienced and steady hand with playoff experience, capable of operating in the pick-and-roll, acting as a high-IQ, low-turnover connective playmaker, and knocking down outside shots off the catch or off the bounce — the kind of player who could help the Knicks reduce Brunson’s burden during the regular season, and potentially play important minutes for them in what New York expects to be a deep postseason run.