Garrison Mathews, Landry Shamet, Knicks
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Garrison Mathews and Landry Shamet will fight for the New York Knicks' last roster spot.
The New York Knicks added two veteran guards to their training camp roster Thursday as they continue to sort out their final veteran minimum spot ahead of the 2025-26 season.
Shamet Returns on Non-Guaranteed Deal
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Knicks re-signed veteran guard Landry Shamet to a one-year contract. The deal is non-guaranteed, according to the New York Post’s Stefan Bondy, who also reported that sharpshooter Garrison Mathews agreed to a training camp deal. The two will compete directly for New York’s last available roster slot.
The Knicks are operating under tight financial constraints. After using their taxpayer midlevel exception earlier this summer to sign French forward Guerschon Yabusele, they remain hard-capped at the second apron. New York sits roughly $3.7 million under the threshold, enough to add one veteran minimum signing and sign one of their draft picks to a rookie deal.
According to SNY’s Ian Begley, Shamet had multiple suitors in free agency but valued the continuity of returning to New York. “He wanted to return to a locker room he liked and to help the Knicks compete for a title,” Begley wrote on X.
Shamet’s Comeback After Injury
Shamet, 28, began last season with New York on a non-guaranteed contract before dislocating his shoulder in the preseason. The team waived him, but later brought him back in December. He emerged as a steady contributor on an otherwise struggling bench, averaging 5.7 points while hitting 39.7% from beyond the arc.
The 6-foot-4 guard’s most memorable moment came in the playoffs, when he scored 12 points in the Knicks’ Game 6 loss to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals. In total, he appeared in 11 postseason games and carved out a role as a trusted shooter off the bench.
Landry Shamet, Knicks, US Open
GettyNBA player Landry Shamet looks on prior to the Men’s Singles Final match between Jannik Sinner of Italy and Carlos Alcaraz of Spain on Day Fifteen of the 2025 US Open.
Shamet remained in New York this summer, even working as an unpaid photographer for the USTA during the U.S. Open. A former first-round pick out of Wichita State in 2018, Shamet has also played for Philadelphia, the Los Angeles Clippers, Brooklyn, Phoenix and Washington before arriving in New York.
Mathews Brings Shooting Depth
Mathews, 27, has made his mark as a reliable perimeter weapon. He averaged 7.5 points and a career-best 1.3 assists in 47 games with the Atlanta Hawks last season while shooting 39% from 3-point range. During his first season in Atlanta in 2023-24, he knocked down a career-high 44% of his shots from beyond the arc.
The 6-foot-6 guard is a career 38.2% shooter from deep. After going undrafted, he worked his way into the league through the G League with stops in Washington and Houston before finding a niche with the Hawks.
Knicks Linked to Simmons
The backcourt battle comes amid reports linking New York to free agent Ben Simmons. Longtime NBA insider Marc Stein reported earlier this week that Simmons declined a one-year veteran minimum offer from the Knicks. Begley later countered that while the team had conversations with Simmons, no formal offer was made.
Begley added that Shamet and former Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon were also on the Knicks’ radar for their last open slot. On Thursday, the Shamet report proved accurate.