Knicks' Landry Shamet is already winning the NBA Finals

Eight months ago, Landry Shamet was facing NBA unemployment. Wednesday, he played 33 minutes in an NBA Finals game.

Shamet scored 13 points and shot 3-for-6 on three-pointers in the New York Knicks' 105-95 Game 1 win over the San Antonio Spurs. It was a long journey from being vulnerable to his team's final roster cuts to playing the third-most minutes on the Knicks in their opening game upset.

Landry Shamet realized his defensive potential with New York Knicks

Shamet was a member of the Knicks last season, when the team upset the top-seeded Boston Celtics and reached the Eastern Conference Finals. He shot 46.7 percent from three-point range but didn't even get off the bench in seven of the Knicks' 18 playoff games.

This season, he's continued his excellent playoff shooting but continued the best defensive season of his career. Shamet is 6-foot-4 with a 6-foot-8 wingspan, able to guard bigger players and disrupt passes. He fits Knicks coach Mike Brown's schemes on both ends of the court, a big reason he averaged 23.2 minutes this season.

On a team with other capable offensive players, Shamet has remade himself as a reliable catch-and-shoot player from deep. As a former college point guard, he's a capable enough ball handler who rarely turns the ball over. Plus, he's smart enough to recognize — and disrupt — the opposing team's plays.