Matt Ryan wasn’t gone from the New York Knicks for long.
Per James Edwards and Fred Katz of The Athletic, the Knicks will sign Ryan to a two-way deal that will put him between Manhattan and the NBA G League club in Westchester. New York is set to release Boo Buie from his two-way deal as a result.
A New York State native who previously starred at Iona Prep in New Rochelle, Ryan was released by the Knicks on Sunday when they were ready to welcome back Landry Shamet to the NBA fold. Ryan averaged 1.7 points in nine NBA appearances and also helped Westchester reach the G League’s Showcase Cup. The Knicks originally obtained Ryan as the top pick of the G League draft earlier this year and used the second pick on Shamet.
Known for his three-point shooting in prior NBA stops in Boston, Los Angeles, Minnesota, and New Orleans, Ryan took pride in joining the Knicks organization after taking in the team’s prior exploits as a Westchester County youth. It’s very lucky, a unique circumstance to come home, play for the Knicks as a Westchester kid. But I’m locked in. Probably never been more focused than I am right now.”
“It’s extremely special,” Ryan said upon his arrival, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “But at the end of the day I know playing for [Tom Thibodeau], it’s going to require a tremendous amount of focus every day, blocking out everything else that’s going on.”
In the wake of Ryan’s return, Buie was released from the Knicks’ two-way trio, which still includes Jacob Toppin and the injured Kevin McCullar. Fresh off a historic tenure at Northwestern, the undrafted rookie Buie averaged 11.2 points and 3.7 assists over 15 appearances in White Plains.
Knicks proving Jalen Brunson doesn’t need to carry ‘whole city on his back’
They would struggle when it happened.
That’s no longer the case.
The latest example came in Monday’s 139-125 rout of the Raptors.
Brunson was held to 12 points on 4-for-13 shooting and went 0-for-5 from 3-point range.
“I feel like it’s a blessing that JB doesn’t have to do what he did last game for us to come out with a win like we did [on Monday],” Karl-Anthony Towns said, referring to Brunson’s 39-point outburst in the Knicks’ previous win over the Pelicans. “It speaks to the growth of this team. He doesn’t have to have the whole city on his back every single night.”
The Knicks are 6-1 this year when Brunson fails to score 20 points.
The previous two seasons, they were 15-15.
Coach Tom Thibodeau’s team has more offensive options, whether it is Towns, Mikal Bridges or OG Anunoby, among others.
Brunson’s scoring is down this year, at 24.6 points from 28.7 a year ago, on an average of 4.4 fewer shots.
His assists (7.6) are up nearly one per game and his shooting percentages are a tick better, too.
“It’s great. I think it’s going to open it up for him even more,” Bridges said. “When you have to respect everybody, you can’t help as much. You don’t help, it’s going to be tough to guard him. Just trying to keep teams honest, so they have to play straight up, and that’s when JB will be in kill mode.”
Most importantly, the Knicks are ahead of last year’s win pace.
Through 29 games, they are 19-10.
Last season at this point, they were two games worse, at 17-12, and fell to 17-15 after 32 contests.
Brunson has repeatedly said all that matters to him is the end result.
So when he was asked about his low point total after Monday’s win, his answer was what you would expect.
“I’m just happy we got the win,” the Knicks’ captain said. “I don’t really give a crap.”
The Knicks are planning to re-sign sharpshooting wing Matt Ryan to a two-way contract and waive guard Boo Buie, The Athletic first reported.
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