{"id":376915,"date":"2026-10-19T15:16:48","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T15:16:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/376915\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T15:16:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T15:16:48","slug":"how-knicks-maintained-championship-core-with-one-big-newcomer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/376915\/","title":{"rendered":"How Knicks maintained championship core \u2013 with one big newcomer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fresh off of their first championship in 53 years, the Knicks<\/a> entered the offseason with four rotation players eligible for free agency and retained three of them.<\/p>\n

Landry Shamet, Jose Alvarado and Jordan Clarkson all reached deals to return<\/a>, meaning that of the 11 players who averaged the most minutes per game for last season\u2019s Knicks, 10 are back this year.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s enviable continuity for an NBA champion, especially in today\u2019s era of restrictive payroll aprons that make maintaining rosters much more difficult.<\/p>\n

But it also created a somewhat unique situation. Veteran center Andre Drummond was the only notable outside free agent to sign with the Knicks<\/a> during the first wave of the offseason, making him the main newcomer in a core otherwise brimming with chemistry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time I\u2019m the only new guy to a team, so it feels kind of weird. Like, an outcast trying to fit in,\u201d Drummond, 33, acknowledged at training camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the guys are very welcoming,\u201d he said. \u201cThey made me feel very welcome to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Knicks needed another center because game-wrecking backup Mitchell Robinson \u2014 a top rim protector and offensive rebounder \u2014 left for a three-year, $47.4 million contract with the rival Boston Celtics.<\/p>\n

Robinson\u2019s departure was the result of the Knicks\u2019 mandate to remain below the second apron luxury-tax threshold of $222 million. Had their payroll exceeded it, they would have faced significant roster-building limitations.<\/p>\n

So the Knicks instead signed Drummond to a one-year, $3.9 million contract \u2014 the veteran\u2019s minimum \u2014 with the hope that his 6-11 frame and 14 years of NBA experience can help lessen the blow of losing Robinson.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not expecting Andre to come in and be Mitch or impact the game in a lot of different ways that Mitch did,\u201d head coach Mike Brown said. \u201cJust be yourself, but everyone else has to step up and box out a little harder. All those things will make us a top-level team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drummond hails from Mount Vernon, N.Y., and grew up a Knicks fan. He\u2019s no longer the player who earned All-Star selections in 2016 and 2018 or that led the NBA in rebounding four times from 2015-20, but the Knicks aren\u2019t asking him to be.<\/p>\n

So how are the tight-knit Knicks making Drummond \u2014 who averaged 6.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game with the Philadelphia 76ers last season \u2014 feel comfortable?<\/p>\n

It started with Knicks captain Jalen Brunson inviting Drummond to his 30th birthday party over the summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve known him from afar,\u201d Brunson said. \u201cIt\u2019s always been mutual \u2014 like, hi and bye \u2014 and I always respect [him]. That was the first time we really got to sit down and have a conversation. It was kind of like an icebreaker-type thing and also welcoming him to the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

No such introduction is needed for the rest of the Knicks\u2019 bench.<\/p>\n

Shamet returned on a four-year, $24 million contract. Alvarado re-signed on a three-year, $14 million deal. Clarkson is back on the veteran\u2019s minimum.<\/p>\n

All three \u2014 and especially Shament and the Brooklyn-born Alvarado \u2014 likely could have commanded more money on the open market, had chasing the last dollar been their top priority.<\/p>\n

To them, defending their title was more important.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to win for each other,\u201d Shamet said. \u201cWe\u2019re willing to take on different roles and know that we\u2019ve got each other\u2019s back. If Jose\u2019s got it going and my minutes are shortened, awesome, and vice versa.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shamet continued, \u201cI\u2019ve been \u2026 a broken record about it, but you don\u2019t see that. From a backup guard position, that\u2019s very rare, where no ego or ulterior motives get involved. That\u2019s something special that you want to be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the Knicks to become the NBA\u2019s first repeat champions since 2017-18, they\u2019ll likely need all three of them \u2014 and Drummond, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe compete,\u201d Alvarado said of the Knicks\u2019 deep backup backcourt. \u201cWe want to get each other better. In order to win, we need everybody on the same page, and we know that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fresh off of their first championship in 53 years, the Knicks entered the offseason with four rotation players…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376916,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[30248,4777,28586,34179,10663,7046,1556,1557,21,9,11,10],"class_list":["post-376915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-andre-drummond","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-jordan-clarkson","tag-jose-alvarado","tag-knicks","tag-landry-shamet","tag-mike-brown","tag-mitchell-robinson","tag-nba","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}