Malcolm Brogdon's Retirement Answers Remaining Knicks Questions

He didn't look as spry as he once did in this past preseason, averaging 4.2 points and 2.3 assists per game on under 30% from the field, with his last on-court images helping to demonstrate how hard his 30s had hit him.

Brogdon, in effect, passed up a chance at one last spin, having signed to the Knicks a little over a month ago as a preseason option with a chance to make the opening night roster. The team spent weeks telegraphing their interest in keeping both he and fellow late-signee Landry Shamet as depth guards, and though his bowing out does rob the rotation of a potential playmaking edge, this has to clear up some headaches for New York's front office.

For one, Brogdon was engaged in a competition for some of the last remaining roster spots with fellow veteran minimum candidates in Shamet and Garrison Mathews, a couple of well-traveled shooters with fewer injuries and miles on their tires as Brogdon. Shamet seemed about as guaranteed to make the cut as Brogdon, so his role in this remains unchanged.

The Knicks now have to choose whether they want to keep Mathews as well, but that will require the team to trade one of their prospects in Miles McBride, Tyler Kolek and Pacome Dadiet to make the numbers work.

Trading McBride would make for a painful transaction, with the fan-favorite's safe position within the team's regular rotation naturally returning the most value. But no free agent or veteran's minimum candidate can provide close to his value as a scorer and hustler, making his departing in favor of signing a journeyman like Mathews tough to rationalize.

Similar logic applies to both of their rising sophomores in Kolek and Dadiet, each of which offer more potential. The case can be made that the Knicks may not want to wait for them to pan out, and it's up to them to decide whether they'd want to add the 3-point specialist 12th man or stick with the in-house candidates.

The Knicks' backcourt was starting to look crowded, and this does give Mike Brown a more concise list of toys to play with in mobilizing his bench units. McBride, Josh Hart and Jordan Clarkson will all still be there to help pad Jalen Brunson's guard room, and Shamet now has a less-competitive road to cracking the end of the rotation.