How Knicks’ Landry Shamet will boost Mikal Bridges, wing rotation

The New York Knicks continued their winning ways on the eve of New Year’s Eve. They defeated the Washington Wizards for their eighth straight victory, which put with within one half-game of the second-place Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference standings. And on the whole, things are looking pretty good in the Big Apple.

Karl-Anthony Towns has continued his dominance. Mikal Bridges has kept up his strong play. And everyone else has stepped up as needed (see Josh Hart in the Knicks most recent win). But one addition that’s already been made can help the Knicks take the next step, Landry Shamet. 

Shamet is a sixth-year veteran with a proven skill set. In short, he shoots the lights out.

He has career averages of 10.8 points in 22 minutes per game, and he has converted 38.4% of three-point attempts. And he’s pretty darn efficient, too. He averaged just seven field goal attempts per game through his career. But the Shamet signing isn’t about how much he can score. It was more about who he relieves and how that can help keep the team fresh for a deep playoff run.

Mikal Bridges could burn out at anytime 

To fully appreciate the Shamet signing, we’ll have to examine Bridges, and—to a lesser extent—OG Anunoby. Bridges leads the entire NBA in minutes per game, despite being new to the Knicks and taking on an entirely new role (i.e., going from a first option to the team’s third or fourth option). While Bridges has been an iron man, to say the least, through his basketball career, it is entirely conceivable that he suffers an injury at any point in time. And it’s more likely given how much he’s played this season, and all prior seasons.

In addition to leading the league in minutes per game, Bridges has appeared in all of the Knicks’ 33 games so far. In fact, he hasn’t missed a single professional game through his career.

What’s more, Tom Thibodeau is obviously prone to leaning on his stars a little more heavily than most coaches. Case in point, he has kept his starters in deep into the fourth quarter of virtually every blowout win this season. Granted, it’s understandable to keep starters when leads are virtually never safe. But Thibodeau receives a good deal of criticism about this, and Bridges might just bear the brunt of it.

Landry Shamet to the rescue

But it’s not entirely coach Thibodeau’s fault. The Knicks roster construction has demanded that Thibodeau lean on his starters. Entering the season, there were only two legitimate bench players who could handle significant roles (due to injuries)—Miles McBride and Cam Payne. There was not a legitimate shooting guard who could confidently defend most NBA twos (and there still isn’t a legitimate backup wing).

With the arrival of  Shamet, who would have been a Knick sooner if not for a shoulder injury, coach Thibodeau can now insert the Wichita State alum into situations for between 1o and 20 minutes per game. That will likely benefit Bridges more than anyone.

Despite just joining the Knicks, Shamet is averaging 9.2 minutes —and 4.3 points on 75% three-point shooting with a +6.7  plus-minus—per game. And the Knicks’ most recent win exemplifies exactly how Shamet can help.

He played 11 minutes, which alleviated some of the burden on Bridges. The Villanova alum played just 36 minutes against the Wizards, whereas he’d averaged 41.2 minutes per game through the team’s previous 10 games. That’s a notable difference, and it adds up over the course of a season.

Shamet might benefit OG Anunoby and Josh Hart, too

While Shamet is just six-foot-four, his presence will probably impact the team’s bigger wings, as well. How so? We know that coach Thibodeau isn’t going to play Bridges 10 minutes less per game. Bridges is far more durable than Anunoby. So, it stands to reason that he will, instead, slide Bridges and Hart to the three and four, respectively, for some of Shamet’s minutes. That means fewer minutes for Anunoby.

Anunoby is averaging 36.6 minutes per game through the season. However, he played 34 or fewer minutes in two of New York’s previous three games—and they were the two games in which Shamet played 10 or more.

To be fair, looking at Shamet’s impact on Anunoby’s minutes is difficult as there has been  far too small a sample size to extrapolate how coach Thibodeau will augment rotations. But it’s important to remember that while position-less basketball is a pipe dream, the modern NBA does allow for freer use of players depending on opponent rotations.

In other words, New York could easily play Jalen Brunson, McBride, Shamet, Hart, and Towns for stretches. They could even have Shamet as a four for short periods of time. And coach Thibodeau has certainly earned the benefit of the doubt. So, sit back, buckle up, and enjoy the ride—because the Knicks are better prepared for a deep run now with Shamet than they were a short while ago. And much of that has to do with the idea that Bridges may get a little more rest along the way.