The New York Knicks finalized their roster heading into the 2026-27 season on Saturday, waiving veteran Bruce Brown in order to retain former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman on the regular season roster. Wiseman has been featured regularly in the Knicks preseason games, averaging 8.0 points and 4.3 rebounds in four appearances in the preseason. After seeing Mitchell Robinson walk in free agency to the rival Boston Celtics, New York needed to bolster its center rotation behind Karl-Anthony Towns.
The Knicks signed Andre Drummond in free agency to be their new backup, but needed additional depth and brought in Wiseman on an Exhibit 9 deal (training camp contract), which they'll now convert into a league minimum deal that gets Wiseman back onto a roster with a chance to contribute for the first time in a few years. Wiseman played in just five games the last two seasons in Indiana, and while he'll be reserve depth in New York, he could see some regular-season action as they look to be mindful of minutes coming off of a championship run. The former No. 2 pick of the Warriors has not been a regular rotation player since 2023-24 in Detroit, when he averaged 7.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in 63 appearances.
Wiseman was part of the Warriors' initial plans to try and build for the future while competing in the present, but he struggled to produce at a high level and has had defensive woes since entering the league. The Knicks will hope he can provide some size in reserve when called upon for spot duty this season after impressing Mike Brown enough in the preseason to keep him on the roster. For Brown, he'll hope to find an opportunity elsewhere after being waived.
Brown played in all 82 games a season ago with the Denver Nuggets, averaging 7.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
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