In a league where everyone seems to have lost their minds, the Knicks have had a quiet offseason. I mean, after you win a championship, why be overtly active when you have everything you need to go back-to-back?
We haven’t heard of a real roster move since the attempt to sign Mavericks center Moussa Cisse to an offer sheet back on July 19, but as training camp approaches in the next few weeks, the Knicks need to figure out who’s filling the final roster spots.
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Two of those names who will be competing for that spot will be former Grizzlies wing John Konchar and former Kings forward Drew Eubanks, who were both signed on Tuesday night.
Konchar, an undrafted free agent out of Purdue-Fort Wayne in 2019, grew from a little-used role player into a key contributor for several years in Memphis. He played just 62 games in his first two seasons, but began to become a serious member of the rotation in 2021-22.
Across the next three seasons, Konchar averaged 4.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.6 assists on 45.7% from the field and 35.5% from three in 199 games (53 starts) for a turbulent team that went from being one of the league’s youngest and brightest to most disappointing. He never played nor contributed much when the playoffs came around, but was soli regular season depth.
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He began to be phased out of the rotation in 2024-25, playing just 46 games without any long-term injuries. A sharp regression from downtown (28.4% in 2025-26) made him expendable, leading to him being sent to Utah as part of the Jaren Jackson Jr. trade as expiring salary, where he played out the rest of the season with a crummy, tanking Jazz team.
When things are going right for Konchar, the 6’5″ wing plays a lot taller than his height, averaging 8.2 rebounds per 36 with two stocks (steals+blocks). He’s had stretches where he can be a real sniper, shooting over 37% from three on three different occasions, but is also extremely streaky, having shot sub-34% also in three different seasons.
As for Eubanks, affectionately nicknamed the “Michael Jordan of Troutdale, Oregon”, he signed as an undrafted free agent out of Oregon State in 2018 with the San Antonio Spurs, playing 3.5 years as a solid bench player for a transitional era in Spurs basketball before being traded to the Raptors at the 2022 trade deadline for Goran Dragic and a first-round pick, eventually being bought out.
Since then, he’s shuffled around the league. He played the best basketball of his career in 22 games as a starter for the Portland Trail Blazers in late 2022, averaging 14.5 points and 8.5 rebounds, but reverted to the regular role player he’s always been the following year.
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He’s played for four different teams over the last three years, making stops in Phoenix, LA (Clippers), Utah, and Sacramento, where he played 42 games last season. In his eight-year career, he’s averaged 5.6 points and 4.3 rebounds on 60.3% from the field.
Now, it’s extremely unlikely that these two players will both make the Opening Night roster, as the Knicks are currently unable to sign two players to standard contracts without exceeding the second apron. It seems like these two will be among the players competing for just one roster spot, with the 6’10” Eubanks likely being the favorite… or is he?
We haven’t gotten the financials, but Konchar is a guy who reportedly got interest from Miami, Orlando, and Toronto. As Ian Begley put it shortly after signing, he likely would not have signed here if he didn’t see a real path towards making the roster, something that the front office would have had to assure him of given the situation.
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Could this be the precursor to a trade? Even if nothing is imminent, is this a sign that the Knicks are more willing to trade someone (Deuce McBride?) for a center during training camp?
The Knicks are currently at just 17 players on their training camp roster, with 13 standard deals, these two, Liam Robbins (signed to an Exhibit 10), and Tyler Nickel (likely to be signed to a two-way). They can sign four more.
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