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Shamet Cashes In When It's Tight

The reserve guard hit free throws and threes down the stretch, going plus-14 in the comeback over Toronto.

+14Plus-minus in last outing
By the Knicks Nightly Desk · Friday, October 16

Landry Shamet scored 13 points on 3-for-8 shooting, made 6 of 7 free throws and finished plus-14 in 24 minutes in Monday's 122-120 win over the Raptors, with seven of those points coming in the fourth quarter. He is the Knicks' bench specialist, and last season's shooting numbers back up why Mike Brown trusts him there.

Landry Shamet of the Knicks
Landry Shamet. Photo: YESNetwork, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Clutch Minutes

Shamet's line against Toronto was efficient by design: 3-for-8 from the field, 1-for-5 from three, but 6-for-7 at the line, and a team-best plus-14 across 24 minutes. Seven of his 13 points landed in the fourth quarter, when the lead kept changing hands. New York's reserves outscored the starters that night, 53 to 59 is close enough to call it a wash, and Shamet was the clearest reason why.

The Specialist

Last season Shamet played 23.0 minutes a night across 51 games, scoring 9.3 points on a low 15.1 percent usage rate. That's the job: take open threes and make them. He shot 39.2 percent from deep on 5.2 attempts a game and 43.7 percent overall, with a true shooting mark of 59.8 percent that ranks him among the more efficient shooters on this roster.

No Mistakes

The advanced numbers tell the same story twice. Shamet posted a net rating of 8.1 last season, with a defensive rating of 107.0, and he turned the ball over just 0.6 times a game. He isn't asked to create offense, 1.4 assists a game confirms that, and he doesn't give it away either.

The Deal

Shamet is tied to a four-year contract: $5.4 million this season, climbing to $5.8 million, $6.2 million and $6.6 million by 2029-30. He isn't on the injury report. At that price, for what he gives back on efficiency, it reads as one of the cleaner deals on a roster already paying heavily at the top.

Bottom Line

Shamet doesn't need touches to matter. He needs to keep shooting the way he did last season and keep making the kind of free throws and fourth-quarter threes that turned Monday's game. A specialist only has one job. Right now, he's doing it.

What is Landry Shamet's role on the Knicks?

He is a low-usage bench shooter who played 23.0 minutes a game last season, taking 5.2 threes a night and scoring 9.3 points on 39.2 percent shooting from deep.

How much is Landry Shamet making this season?

Shamet is set to earn $5.4 million in 2026-27, the first year of a four-year deal that rises to $6.6 million by 2029-30.

By the Knicks Nightly Desk, written from the club's data and the reports on file, with every name and number checked against them. How the desks work.

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