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When the New York Knicks acquired Luka Vildoza for a four-year, $ 13.6 million contract, they made sure it was an unsecured contract. The Argentine goalkeeper spent last season with Baskonia of the Spanish ACB league.
In 27 games, Vildoza averaged 23.5 minutes, posting 10.9 points, 3.7 assists and shooting 42% from the field. The Knicks see him as a combo guard with European level experience. Trying to make the transition to the NBA, Vildoza has a daunting task ahead of him, having missed the majority of Summer League games and the emergence of rookie Miles McBride in West Virginia.
McBride was a player head coach Tom Thibodeau fell in love with during the pre-draft process. With an emphasis on defensive prowess, McBride impressed with his offensive production. In 27.7 minutes of play during the Summer League, McBride averaged 15.2 points, shooting 53.2% from the field and 50% from three points. He also logged on 87.5% of his free throws and tallied 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Defensively, he averaged 1.3 interceptions per game and returned the ball more than 1.3 times.
Overall, McBride has proven he deserves minutes in the regular season, but of course Summer League play can’t be considered the end of all of his development. Playing against rookies and the majority of reserve players, McBride hasn’t faced some of the best in the league again, which will likely hold back his progress.
Nonetheless, his efficiency in shooting and defense will no doubt put him above Vildoza, who the Knicks can easily let go of and retain some salary space. With Kemba Walker, Derrick Rose and McBride at the point of guard, Vildoza quickly becomes irrelevant. Second-year Immanuel Quickley also looked solid as a host and shot-maker during the Summer League, but he will feature primarily as a shot-keeper this coming season. The acquisition of Evan Fournier is also high on the list – Vildoza quickly falls out of favor for various reasons… and for that reason he is OUT (as Shark Tank would say)!
It’s entirely possible that management will keep him for a season to test his worth, but the Knicks are surprisingly deep after holding back Alec Burks and having Quickley on the bench. It will be an uphill battle for the Argentine native to make the list. He’ll need to have a dominant preseason to prove his worth, and that might not even be enough.
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