The Knicks Next Move has been Revealed...

The New York Knicks just made a $5.37 million decision on a player who's played exactly one minute this season. Everybody is reacting to who they are getting rid of, but almost nobody is asking for who the move is really for. Replacing one young player who the Knicks are starting to give up on and also want to avoid a financial burden with a guy who is much cheaper, who is younger, and who already is showing that he is the prototype. for modern basketball is a 6'8 point guard who gets more steals than most players out there, who scores the ball well, and every single year, his shooting has gotten better. Because Pacôme Dadié, a former first-round pick on October 29th, Shams Charani reported the Knicks are declining his fourth-year option. That makes him an unrestricted free agent in June of 2027, and it wipes that $5.37 million off the Knicks' 2027-2028 books. It sounds like a boring contract to note, And it's not... At all. Everybody is asking what the Knicks can get for him. Wrong question. Ask who gets the spot that he leaves behind. Because there is a 20-year-old, a 6'8 wing, who also plays point guard, already in the organization, who's gotten better every single year that he's played as a pro. And I think this decline is the first domino to fall in bringing him on a cheap deal. Here is his best game. 37 points. 13 assists, 11 rebounds, 5 threes, and 3 steals. He was 19 when he did that. He is the first Westchester Knick ever with a 35-point triple-double. That is Dink Pate. The same kid who was good enough to make the Knicks sign him this month. And the same kid who the Knicks had to let walk to Providence last spring before a rule changed everything. And a quick note before we go on. Guys, right now, when we look at this Knicks team, this is a move that we know they are plotting and planning based off how much they love Dink Payton. The numbers are real and they are about to show How good this move is going to be for the Knicks. Now, right now, Pacôme Dadié is still on the team, and the Knicks are not going to get rid of him, but they would like to because it actually would let them add a veteran if they could trade Dadié now that he's on an expiring contract because they do want to free up some salary so they could sign Bruce Brown, who they think will be able to help them win a second title this year. And on Cal State, the Knicks have a 7% chance to win the NBA Finals next season. I do want to thank Kalshi for sponsoring this video On Kalshi, you're trading directly against other users, not the house, like traditional sportsbooks. You're buying yes or no contracts on the outcomes of events across sports, politics, and even the weather. For example, the Knicks winning the 2027 NBA championship and going back-to-back. Right now, they have a 7% chance on Kalshi to do so, so you can find yourself getting a very, very nice payout. in the process and if you are interested in trying out Kalshi make sure to click the link in our description and pin comment down below and sign up for Kalshi using code DIGESTNBA and when you trade your first $25 you can get $55 from Kalshi. It's a great deal for you. It helps the channel out a bunch and now let's get back into the video. First let's look at how we got here because Dadié's option for 2027-28 was a 5.37 million dollar option and the Knicks said no to He's on a $2.98 million option this season, or contract, I should say, and he's played one minute, has zero points, and one rebound, and they did try to trade him first. Brett Seagal reported that they shopped him for about two weeks and found no takers. Hoops rumors even noted that it would cost a second-round pick. And now let's watch what fans said when this news dropped. IronWolf999 wrote, And DwayneLewis923, shoutout to Dwayne, said, Use him as an add-on for a trade. And fair, but that's exactly the point. A move like this only looks small if you stop at Dadié. The Knicks would have to pair something with him. And here's why this decline matters. Once the option is gone, Dadié is an expiring deal, which is easier for another team to take on. It keeps that $5.37 million off of a payroll that is already at about $221 million, which is $55.9 million over the cap. Every dollar counts when you are that far over. And... This is the link that nobody is making. Trading him opens up a roster spot. A roster spot is what a young player like Peyton needs. With the roster this tight, the Knicks cannot just sign somebody. So the first step is getting Dadié Room back and then the option decision is what makes this possible. And I have to shout out the top comment on this video from Jsusbk who said, Hopefully this is a move to bring Dante back and I love the optimism for Dante DiVincenzo and sorry it does not look like that right now unless DiVincenzo was to take a major pay cut when he becomes a free agent next offseason and fans want the Knicks to use that money on a player who actually plays and Pate is going to play with the Knicks and because of where Brown's contract is if the Knicks could trade Dadié right now they would sign Bruce Brown but They also would have the space to be able to sign Dink Pate as well if they wanted to, or they would sign Dalton Connect off of the G League team or off of the two-way contract. I should say he was playing with the G League team and signed Dink Pate and put him on a two-way deal and then bring him on the contract next year. But let's go over Pate because who is Dink Pate really? Well, he turned pro at the G League Ignite at the youngest known professional basketball player in United States history. He did not make an instant splash. In his first pro year, he shot 34.7%. He was a teenager playing against grown men, and it showed. And that is exactly what I love about him, though, because the story is what he did next as he grew up. Look at the climb. In 2023-24, the Ignite he averaged 8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game, while shooting 34.7% from the field and 21.4% from three. Year two, with the Mexico City Capitans, he averaged 10 points, 5.1 rebounds, and a 40.8% from the field and 26.1% from three. Year three, last year, 2025-26 with Westchester. He averaged 16 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists, Shot 41.6% from the field and 36.8%. In 30.8 minutes a night, points, rebounds, shooting, and minutes all went up every single year. He's playing more and doing more with every minute. His minutes went from 23.5 to 26.9 to 30.8 a night. So coaches kept giving the ball as he kept earning it. From 8 points to 10.1 points to 16 points. From 21.4 to 26.1 to 36.8% from 3. That is not a guy who peaked at 18. It is a guy still going up, who's only 20 years old. A jump from 10 points to 16 points in one year is the kind of leap that the NBA pays attention to. And JW-YV2EX put it perfectly on one of my Knicks videos about the end of the bench, saying, We need scoring off the bench really bad. He was talking about Dalton Knecht, but this is the exact itch for a 6'8 guard slash wing who scores 16 points a night, and that would scratch the itch for sure. So we then look at the night everybody saw it. On December 3rd, he put up 37 points, 13 assists, and 11 rebounds in a loss to College Park, and he is the first Westchester Knick ever. to record a triple-double with 35 points or more. This is a franchise first. He was also picked for the 2026 G League Next Up game as a Westchester player, and he turned down two-way and 10-day offers to keep his college eligibility open and committed to Providence on April 9th, but then lost his eligibility in a fight for that on October 16th, bringing him back to Westchester. Now, this move is genius, and let's connect the dots a little bit here, because on October 17th, the Knicks signed Payton to an Exhibit 10 contract and then instantly waived him. That keeps him in the pipeline with the Westchester Knicks on about the cheapest terms in the league. And Exhibit 10 carries a bonus of up to $91,000, which is nothing in this situation. Here's my case. Diouf is at $5.37 million and is a bet on a young player who is not playing. Pate could get on a two-way contract or a minimum deal quite quickly for a lot less money and a lot less of a cap hit. And it's a bet on a 20-year-old who's been producing for years for a fraction of that. And Pate's cost is not even close to that $5.37 million. A two-way or a minimum deal is a rounding error on a 22 million point or... $221 million payroll. Why can't I say $221 million today, guys? But Knicks owner James Dolan has said the team will not cross the second apron. So when you are that far over the cap, every dollar matters, and a cheap contract with real upside is worth more than a $5.37 million bench spot. And think about what the Knicks get out of it. They get a free look at him in Westchester so they can see if that's 16 points and 36.8% from three hold up before they commit a real roster spot. And if they want to move up the timeline, Westchester games are right there for the Knicks to watch, and the Knicks have shown they will do this. Ian Begley reported the Knicks have been impressed by two-way guard Jaden Akins and are optimistic about his future. This is a front office that is trying to build a bench through Westchester and the two-way spots, not through big money moves because they can't afford those. Now, I'm not going to tell you that he's some surefire prospect because I am not here to oversell. Pate shot 41.6% from the field, which isn't great, and his free throws were at 70.8%, and these are G League numbers, not NBA numbers. Nobody should pretend the jump is easy, and the Knicks will have to watch whether the three-point shooting holds up against NBA length. Here's what to watch next. First, how Pate starts for Westchester this season. Second, whether the Knicks move Diouf before the trade deadline, which one report puts in February. Don't worry. third is whether a two-way roster spot opens up. When those three line up, you will know I was right, but there's also this side of it. Look at what a miss costs if Pate doesn't work. The Knicks lose a contract near the minimum. If Diouf's option had stayed, they would have kept that $5.37 million for a player who has not played. So obviously that's a win there to move on from regardless. If paid hits, they have a six foot eight scoring guard slash wing on a deal that that nobody else could match. That asymmetry, a small cost with big upside, is why I call it genius. So here's my prediction. Pate gets a real contract with the Knicks, either a two-way contract or a minimum deal for a rookie before next summer. It's not going to be a fully guaranteed deal. And if Dadi's decline is the first domino, Pate is the next one. And I think the Knicks... Quietly set this up on purpose and the comment of the day is from brooklynborn718 who said bottom line a championship team simply does not have the luxury of keeping a project on the roster. I agree with the first half. That is exactly why you swap a project that is not playing for one who is producing younger and very cheap, especially for a team that is trying to avoid the second apron. It makes all the sense in the world. So tell me in the comments. Should the Knicks sign Dink Pate to a real contract? Yes or no? And guys, make sure To really subscribe so you know where this Knicks roster is headed, all of their news as well. We got a ton of videos coming out. We got YouTube shorts. You don't want to miss out on all the great content. Like this video, subscribe, turn on post notifications. Have a great day, and go Knicks.