Landry

Shamet

The Knicks won’t have Josh Hart (ankle) for Wednesday’s game, and Shamet will start in his place. With the opportunity and Shamet scoring 22 points in Monday’s win over the Nets, he’s worth streaming in deep leagues.

Hart will miss a game for the first time this season, which will open up a spot in the starting unit. Landry Shamet is the likely replacement in the starting unit, especially after he led the team in scoring 23 points on Monday.

Hart, who made his way to the back immediately after fouling out of Monday’s win over the Nets, is dealing with a sore right ankle. If he can’t play Wednesday, Landry Shamet may replace him in the starting lineup. Shamet scored a team-high 23 points on Monday.

On a night when Mikal Bridges (six points, two rebounds, one steal and one block) shot 1-of-7 from the field, Knicks head coach Mike Brown called on his bench. Shamet led the charge, shooting 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and playing 30 minutes to Bridges’ 16. Shamet’s production isn’t enough to make him worth rostering in 12-team leagues, but he can offer points and three-pointers, as he did on Monday.

In the second game of a back-to-back, a team usually needs more production from its bench, and the Knicks’ reserves answered the call in Chicago. Shamet briefly left the game in the first half after tweaking his right ankle, then hit four three-pointers and scored 12 of his 14 points after halftime. Add in the assists and blocks, and this was a good night for the few who are rostering Shamet.

While there were reports that multiple teams had interest in offering Shamet a deal when free agency opens on Tuesday night, he’s decided to remain in New York. He’ll receive an average of $6 million per year, which leaves the front office some room to work with as they look to follow owner James Dolan’s directive to avoid the second apron. Shamet was not a consistently impactful fantasy option, but he came up big for the Knicks when they needed him most, including shooting 11-of-12 from three in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Fresh off the franchise’s first NBA title in 53 years, the Knicks’ focus has turned to the roster makeup for 2026-27. While Dolan made it clear that he’s fine with writing a check to account for entering the luxury tax, that isn’t the case for the second apron. “If we could bring back the whole team, exactly as it is, why wouldn’t you? But I don’t know if we’re going to be able to, contractually,” Dolan said. “We’re willing to stretch, right. There’s certain things in the NBA that you’d have to be suicidal to do. One of them is called the second apron. Cannot go into the second apron. That’s up to Leon (Rose)...I’ll write as big of a check as possible, but I can’t write a check that goes into the second apron.” This is important because two rotation players, Mitchell Robinson and Landry Shamet, are among the Knicks who will be unrestricted free agents at the end of the month. And Jose Alvarado, who was critical in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, has a $4.5 million player option. The Knicks barely avoided the second apron this season; this task becomes even more challenging this summer.

Shamet came off the bench and lit up the Cavaliers for 16 points on six attempts. He was 11-of-12 from behind the three-point line in the Knicks’ four-game sweep of the Cavaliers. Shamet has certainly opened some eyes with his shooting in this series and should continue to play 15-20 minutes per game in the NBA Finals.

After offering limited production as OG Anunoby’s replacement in the starting lineup for Game 3, McBride was outstanding in Sunday’s series clincher. Deuce shot 7-of-9 from beyond the arc, sinking one fewer three pointer than the 76ers did as a team. McBride led the Knicks in scoring, while Landry Shamet contributed 12 points and four three-pointers in 11 minutes off the bench. What their roles will be in the conference finals depends on Anunoby’s hamstring, which he strained late in Game 2.

Anunoby is set to miss his second consecutive game in this series after injuring his hamstring in the fourth quarter of Game 2. The Knicks won Game 3 without him and with a 3-0 lead in the series can be cautious with the 28-year-old small forward’s injury. Miles McBride could start again in Game 4 with Landry Shamet seeing additional minutes off the bench in Anunoby’s absence.