The Knicks signing is bigger than you think...

The New York Knicks signing Dalton Connect is a bigger deal than you think. And once we are done with this video, you are going to agree with me that the New York Knicks have just robbed the NBA. Because two years ago, this guy hit nine threes in one game as a rookie. That tied the NBA record for most threes ever by a rookie in a single game. And on Monday, his team cuts him. Obviously, that's Dalton Connect, where the Knicks instantly swooped in. Shams Charania reports that Connect has agreed to sign with the Knicks on a two-way contract. And to make room, the Knicks are waiving Kevin McCuller Jr., the guy who just got his championship ring on Tuesday night. So today, I am going to show you who Dalton Connect actually is, what went wrong in LA, what this costs for the Knicks, and why I think this is one of the smartest moves that this front office has made all year long. Let's start with the move itself. The Lakers waived Connect on Monday to get down to 15 players before opening night. They had tried to trade him and couldn't find a deal, so they cut him and ate his salary instead. And that's not a small detail. The Lakers picked up his third-year option last fall, which made his $4.2 million for this season fully guaranteed. So the Lakers are still on the hook for that money. They also lose $6.45 million in the team option they had on him next year. He cleared waivers, which means no team wanted to take on that salary. But once he was a free agent, a lot of teams wanted him. Hoops Rumors says that the Kings, the Timberwolves, and the Raptors were all interested too. But Connect, he picked New York. Now a two-way contract is different from a normal deal, of course. He can play up to 50 NBA games this season, and he'll split time between the Knicks and the Westchester Knicks in the G League. He can't play in the playoffs unless the Knicks convert him to a standard contract. Now here's the part I love. A two-way contract does not count against the salary cap at all. It does not have a cap hit to it. And the Knicks, they're only about $3.2 million below the second apron. They can add a former first-round pick like this without adding a dollar to the payroll, and that matters in a huge, huge, huge way for this team. And to get him, the Knicks had to open a spot. Their three two-way spots were full. Jaden Aikens, Tyler Nickel, and Kevin McCuller Jr. And McCuller is the one going. And I do feel for McCuller. He's 25. this was his third straight season on a two-way deal with the knicks and he just got a championship ring last season he played 21 games about seven minutes tonight averaging 2.4 points and he showed good defense as well he was also really good in westchester 10 g league games last year he played in he put up 17 points five rebounds and 6.7 assists but this preseason he went 0 for 6 from 3 in three games and for a wing on this roster the shooting has to be there and i mean they just signed connect so we know they want the shooting there so who is Dalton Knecht because his road to the NBA was not normal it's more of an NBA 2K my career storyline if we're being honest with ourselves he started at junior college and then transferred to Northern Colorado and then in his last year he transferred to Tennessee and at Tennessee he exploded for 21.7 points per game was the SEC player of the year and a consensus first team all-american that got him drafted 17th overall by the Lakers in 2024, and as a rookie, he hit the ground running. As in November 2024, he scored 27 points against the Pelicans, and three nights later, dropped 37 on the Jazz with nine threes on 12 attempts. Over the full rookie season, he played in 78 games, started 16, and averaged 9.1 points at about 19 minutes a night. He shot 37.6% from three on more than four attempts per game, showing the volume was there as well, and his efficiency was really good for a rookie a 59.4 true shooting percentage he also scored 32 points in the Nuggets in March which shows you the ceiling is certainly there and here's a stat that tells you exactly what kind of player he is 61% of his shots were threes and 92% of the threes he made were assisted he's a catch and shoot guy you find him and he lets it fly and he's not just a spot-up guy as a rookie He finished with a 78.9% of his shots right at the rim, and he threw down 45 dunks. When he gets out in transition, he can finish. That's a real athlete with a real jumper, and that is hard to find on a two-way contract. He also had 40.7% of his corner threes as a rookie, and he doesn't turn it over. His turnover rate was just a 5.9%. And guys, obviously when we see stuff like the corner threes, you get excited as a Knicks fan. I mean, Mike Brown loves what he calls the spray three when someone drives into the paint the defense collapses and you kick it out that's where Dalton Connect is going to make his money and there's no better team for him to be on in that case than the New York Knicks it's one of the reasons why he opted to go to the Knicks over the other teams mentioned earlier so how does a guy like that get cut two years later well it started at the 2025 trade deadline the Lakers traded Connect to the Charlotte Hornets in a deal for Mark Williams two days later the deal was rescinded because Williams failed the physical and Connect awkwardly came right back to Los Angeles and look what that trade says about the Lakers and how they saw Dalton Connect they put him in a package with Cam Reddish and a future first round pick and a pick swap Connect wasn't the prize anymore he was the salary and the young player that made a trade worth it for the Lakers to bring in a big man after they had obviously traded Anthony Davis away for Luka Doncic and imagine being a rookie it's your first year in the NBA you get traded you're packing your bags you're going from LA to Charlotte the reverse Kobe and then being told never mind and let's go keep playing with your season this is awkward because well it is it's a weird situation for everyone involved especially Connect who's still just trying to figure out his role in the NBA and that role now is with a team that just tried to trade you and now that role is shrinking as you are on the bench more and more and more his minutes got cut almost in half 19.2 a game to 10.2 he played 54 games started one and averages 4.2 points his three-point percentage dropped to 34.2 percent and the defense has not been really at all good it's been the knock on him the whole way his defensive box plus minus was negative both years a negative 1.7 as a rookie and a negative 1.6 last season so not really showing improvement yet on that angle but this preseason we also saw the same problem Sports Illustrated points out that he shot just 25% in the field in four preseason games. So the Lakers chose to keep guys like Bronny James and Jaden Hardy over Dalton Connect because they saw more value out of them as players who could impact the team. But here's the thing I keep coming back to guys. There's one thing that I keep looking at and even in that bad year when he did shoot he was still efficient. A 56.8 true shooting percentage and 61% on his two pointers. He didn't forget how to score. He just stopped getting the ball and It stopped becoming a part of an offense that he was the shooter of for a little bit. So why is this a good move for the Knicks? Number one, there's no risk. Stephen Simeieria at Sports Illustrated called it a low-cost lottery ticket with big potential payout. If it doesn't work, it costs the Knicks nothing. Two, the Knicks need cheap young players in general, especially at the wing spot. I mean, as we look at this team right now, there's not a lot of young talent outside of Muhammad Diawara and Tyler Colick, neither of whom are firmly in the rotation. Diawara a little bit more, but also not really. At the same time, there just really isn't that young talent that this roster has. They're a current contending team, obviously. They just won the NBA championship. And this is a team that does not want to go to the second apron. Dalton Konek is the type of guy, if he shoots well, the Knicks will have no problem giving him a longer-term contract that's insanely cheap on value, keeping them away from the second apron and having another valuable player like Diawara on a really, really cheap contract, which is everything you want if you're the Knicks right now. Now, also, the Knicks have done this before. Isaiah Hartenstein, Dante DiVincenzo, and Landry Shamet all came here after struggling somewhere else. Hartenstein was not really finding his role with the Clippers super well. Landry Shamet almost fell out of the NBA with the Washington Wizards. And Dante DiVincenzo was solid with the Golden State Warriors, but really wasn't doing anything too special until he found his way to New York. And the fit is perfect for Connect. I mean, this Knicks offense, it draws a lot of attention to its superstars in Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, both of whom are very talented passers. And because defenses collapse on them, you're going to shoot some open threes. And there's been a lot of criticism towards the Knicks, even in the first game of the year when O.G. Anunoby only made one of his shots, when McHale was not shooting the ball enough. There was not a lot of three-point shooting happening, and Connect solves that problem instantly because he is not afraid to let that ball fly. Now, on top of that, he's 25 years old and has already played 132 NBA games. Two years ago, the Lakers used the first round pick on him, and two years later, the Knicks got him for a two-way spot. I mean, you can look at that as a negative thing. I look at it as a positive. There's a reason the guy was taken 17th overall, and he's good. Like, he's genuinely good. I was surprised they waived him. I thought they would have waived Hardy instead. I didn't think they were going to waive Bronny James because, well, come on now. But everything else, I was really surprised that they did end up waiving Konnect. I've liked Connect as a player. I think if you can shoot the three-ball effectively and you're athletic enough to get the shots off fast enough, I honestly think you have a role in the NBA. And the Knicks, I am never going to argue with them bringing in more great shooters. I mean, they drafted Tyler Nickel, who's a great fit for this team. And at the same time, when we look at this Knicks squad, I do think this is a team that's going to benefit so much off of having another laser three-point shooter. And I honestly think he becomes the favorite of all two-way guys to get a contract spot pretty much instantly, though I wouldn't be stunned if it were Nickel. They did draft him for a reason. And guys, I do really just want to say more than anything else, I think this is a team that is set up super, super, super well to have Konnect work. And if you do want more Knicks content breaking down like this, make sure to subscribe to Knicks Digest because I honestly think this is a great move right here. I feel for Kevin McCullough Jr., a two-way guy who earned a ring and did everything right in Westchester, but the jumper never came and the Knicks swapped him for a former SEC player of the year who was an NBA rookie who broke a record for three-point shooting. I mean, it's hard to not get on board with a move like that. But I want you guys to tell me in the comments down below, is Dalton Konnect in the Knicks rotation at all this year? Do you think Mike Brown will experiment with him the way he experimented with Keon Ellis when he was on a two-way deal? Let me know in the comments, like this video, subscribe, turn on post notifications. Have a great day guys and go Knicks!