New York Knicks waive Nathan Knight, sign two former Cavs

You cannot say the New York Knicks aren’t working night and day, can you?

Just one day after cutting Isaiah Roby and Jaylen Martin, the front office kept things going by tweaking the roster once more following those transactions with three fresh moves:

• Waived Nathan Knight (two-way contract)
• Signed Mamadi Diakite (exhibit-10)
• Signed Brandon Goodwin (exhibit-10)

Who dat?

These two big dudes come from The Land. Well, partially at least.

Widely known for being on the hunt for tall workers, the Knicks decided to sign 26-year-old F/C Diakite off waivers after he spent the 2022 season in Cleveland. If you’re a casual fan you have probably never in your existence heard about this man. If you’re a basketball nut, you probably know that he played 22 games and even got to start a couple—seriously.

Diakite has, in fact, more NBA rings than all but one (DDV, who won one playing in the same team) New York Knickerbocker—double seriously.

Last year, Diakite averaged 2.6 points, 1.4 boards, and one steals+dimes+blocks, per game. Nothing to call home excited about. He did so in just eight minutes of play, however. Don’t bother calculating the per-36 averages, because they aren’t any better.

Goodwin is the total opposite type of player Diakite is. A 28-year-old point guard with his last NBA game played donning Cavaliers’ threads all the way back in April 2022, G-Win logged eight minutes, attempted a couple of shots, missed both, turned the ball over twice, but dished out a dime.

Funnily enough, he played at MSG one week before with the Cavs cooking New York 119-101. He logged nearly 10 minutes. Current Knick Dylan Windler got 2:24 of run for Cleveland. Ryan Arcidiacono played 22 minutes. Go figure.

Also, Nathan Knight got molly-cut. That means that the Knicks opened a couple of two-way spots in the past few hours as Diakite and Goodwin were only signed to G League-type deals. The Knicks have now 20 players under contract in their roster, with the maximum set at 15 and the deadline for the submission of the regular-season roster set for Oct. 23rd.

Cuts are starting to happen wildly across the league, and it’s probable that the Knicks explore the market in the next few hours and days.

Just yesterday, following Knight’s cut by New York, the Brooklyn Nets waived Darius Bazley. The Suns cut Ish Wainright. The Spurs released Khem Birch. On and on it goes.

None of those players is going to be a needle-mover at the highest of stages and under the brightest of lights, but for what Thibs wants them they can surely contribute.

Bazley has played 228 NBA games to date and is a former first-round pick still to turn 24. Wainright played 105 for the Suns in the past two seasons. Birch is on the wrong side of 30 but is a seasoned vet with 282 games under his belt.

Excuse us for being excited about these ancillary moves, but until the Knicks trade for The Mystery Man this—and the Quickleydrama—is all we can fantasize about.