The New York Knicks have reportedly conjured up a former Washington Wizard in the battle for their final roster spot.
Per Shams Charania of ESPN, the Knicks have signed veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon to a one-year deal, part of a late free agency frenzy that has also seen them sign Garrison Mathews and incumbent backcourt depth star Landry Shamet.
Brogdon, 32, spent last season in the nation's capital after a summer trade with the Portland Trail Blazers. The second-round choice out of Virginia has built a solid career for himself, one that saw him win Rookie of the Year honors with the Milwaukee Bucks before he took home the Sixth Man of the Year title as a member of the 2022-23 Boston Celtics. He is one of two players in NBA history to win both such honors, joined by Mike Miller.
New York will be Brogdon's sixth professional stop, as he has also repped the Indiana Pacers.
Injuries, alas, have come to define the more recent stages of Brogdon's career, as he has played only 63 games over the last two seasons in the Pacific Northwest and the District of Columbia. He averaged 12.7 points and 4.1 assists in 24 showings with the Wizards over this past tour, which was interrupted by multiple ailments, such as an ankle issue that kept him out of the final 24 games of the year.
Nonetheless, Brogdon's presence was a valued resource for rebuilding Washington, as teammate Corey Kispert labeled him a "chill pill" amidst the toil and drudgery of an 18-win output (h/t Varun Shankar of the Washington Post).
The Knicks, fresh off an Eastern Conference Finals appearance, obviously have larger aspirations and Brogdon will likely compete with Mathews and Shamet for the final roster spot. Such a preseason battle carries multiple angels of weaponry, with Brogdon's veteran experience going up against Mathews' deep-ball propensity and Shamet's metropolitan familiarity.
Brogdon's signing serves as perhaps a thematically appropriate ending to the summer, as New York has spent most of this offseason seeking assistance for a depth unit that finished dead-last in bench scoring last year. Previously additions to the cause include Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele, who respectively repped the Utah Jazz and Philadelphia 76ers in the most recent campaign.
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