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Knicks Adding EuroLeague Standout Ahead of 2025 Draft

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Alex Kirschenbaum | Last updated Jun 19, 2025 12:11 PM ET

Even prior to next week's 2025 NBA Draft, the New York Knicks will be getting some help from abroad next year.

New York will take all the help it can get.

All the Knicks have in terms of future draft selections this season is the No. 50 pick in the second round, which New York brought in through a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Marc del Rio of Sport.es (hat tip to @NBA_NewYork for the find) reports that the Knicks will finally be bringing in center James Nnaji for the 2025-26 season.

The 20-year-old, who boasts an impressive 7-foot-5 wingspan and is considered to be a solid defensive presence around the rack, could help shore up the club's post defense, behind oft-hurt backup five Mitchell Robinson.

Nnaji was a draft-and-stash throw-in addition that New York first acquired as part of the team's blockbuster deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves to acquire five-time All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns.

With Towns installed, the Knicks went 51-31 and made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals this spring — the first time in 25 years New York has made it that far. Naturally, the club immediately fired the head coach that got it there and had established a culture of winning and accountability over his five seasons in charge, Tom Thibodeau.

James Nnaji, whose draft rights Knicks got in KAT deal, has told Barcelona he wants to leave & pursue the NBA

Nnaji, 6’11” 20-year-old with a 7'5" wingspan, known as a mobile rim protector

Drafted 31st in 2023 with “some of the best physical tools of any prospect in this class” pic.twitter.com/Z7HIpzJGIA
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) June 19, 2025

Nnaji, while on loan from FC Barcelona, most recently played for Spanish squad Bàsquet Girona in 2024-25. Former three-time All-Star NBA center Marc Gasol founded Girona in 2014.

Across 14 contests with Girona, he averaged 5.3 points on 75.7 percent field goal shooting, 4.1 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks in just 16.2 minutes per.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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