Getty Luca Vildoza handles the ball during the FIBA World Cup Finals on September 15.
With their first playoff appearance since 2014 looming, the New York Knicks are already thinking about their immediate future.
HoopsHype reported last week that Argentinian guard Luca Vildoza could be on his way to Madison Square Garden:
Argentinian guard Luca Vildoza is expected to sign a deal with the New York Knicks, HoopsHype has learned. There’s already an agreement in place for a buyout between Vildoza and Baskonia.
Then ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the two sides came to terms on a deal Wednesday afternoon:
Luca Vildoza, one of the top playmaking guards in Europe, has agreed-in-principle to a four-year, $13.6M deal with the New York Knicks, his agent Alex Saratsis of Octagon Sports told ESPN. Story:
Over 34 games in the EuroLeague this season, Vildoza averaged 9.1 points and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 37 percent from behind the arc.
He’ll provide New York with point guard depth in the anticipated absence of starter Elfrid Payton next season.
Additional Point Guard Depth
It’s interesting that with one roster spot remaining, that the New York Knicks opted to add another guard to a rotation already featuring Elfrid Payton, Derrick Rose, and Immanuel Quickley.
Even more so when you factor in that the player added isn’t coming from an NBA background.
Still, Vildoza seems to have a solid basketball IQ and the floor vision to help create looks for guys within the Knicks’ second unit. But what does this mean for the overall rotation?
For now, nothing. It’s unlikely that head coach Tom Thibodeau would shake up the rotation so dramatically this late in what has been arguably the most successful season of any team around the league.
But with Rose’s injury history, it never hurts to have insurance.
Vildoza appears to have a decent three-point shot and can move the basketball; the type of player who shouldn’t have a hard time in their transition to the NBA.
New York had previously been reported as interested in fellow overseas point guard Mike James, but he was eventually signed by the rival Brooklyn Nets.
Whether they lost out to their neighboring club or not, Marc Berman of the New York Post reported on Wednesday that the Knicks were concerned about the 30-year old’s presence in the locker room.
He was suspended from his previous team in Moscow after a disagreement with the head coach.
Now it appears that Vildoza will reap the benefits, and take New York’s last roster spot.
Contract Details
According to ESPN, Vildoza’s four-year deal for $13.6 million will be non-guaranteed for the final three years.
The 25-year old is unlikely to suit up for New York this season, given the timetable associated with all of the immigration process, his physicals, and the league’s health and safety protocols.
So Vildoza will be paid the first season for essentially what is an early free agency commitment. Wojnarowski implied the guard would have interest from other teams this offseason if a free agent.
At the end of the summer, once he’s played in the Olympics, summer league, and reported for training camp, the Knicks front office will make a decision on his guarantee for the 2021-2022 season.
But for now, that’s one future addition already secured.
Updated Knicks Playoff Odds
After their win over the Memphis Grizzlies, the New York Knicks are 37-28.
That’s good for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, three games back of the third-seed Milwaukee Bucks.
According to Five Thirty Eight’s forecast, their chances at making the playoffs have climbed to 97 percent.
But the website is still giving the team a less than one percent shot at making and/or winning the 2021 NBA Finals.
That number could increase if they retain homecourt going into the postseason.
New York’s currently got a game and a half lead over the fifth-seed Atlanta Hawks, a two and a half game lead over the sixth-seed Miami Heat, and a three-game lead over the seventh-seed Boston Celtics.
Action Network is giving the Knicks a 62.6 percent chance to enter the playoffs as the fourth seed.
Tankathon.com has New York’s remaining schedule as the third-toughest in the entire NBA.
Seven games to go.
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