Veteran guard Cam Payne won’t be returning to the New York Knicks next season, the New York Post‘s Stefan Bondy reported Saturday.
Payne spent last season with the Knicks on a one-year veteran minimum deal. He appeared in 72 regular-season games, mostly off the bench, and contributed 2.1 points per playoff game on the Knicks’ way to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Arguably his biggest performance of the season came in the Knicks’ opening game of the first round against the Detroit Pistons, in which Payne helped launch a fourth-quarter comeback to lead New York to the win.
There is likely no room for Payne on the Knicks roster, which already needs to be cut down before the start of the 2025-26 season.
The Knicks recently signed both Malcolm Brogdon and Landry Shamet to non-guaranteed deals, but currently do not have enough salary cap room to retain both.
The Knicks are hard-capped this season below the second luxury tax apron, below which the team only currently has enough room to sign a veteran free agent and a rookie minimum deal, per SNY’s Ian Begley.
Because the rookie deal has to go to a player drafted by the Knicks, the organization is planning on using the roster spot on 2025 second-round pick Mohamed Diawara, according to Begley.
The veteran roster spot could then go to Brogdon, Shamet or Garrison Matthews, who recently signed a training camp deal with the Knicks.
Retaining more than one new veteran would necessitate trading another player already on the Knicks roster. Begley reported that moving either Pacôme Dadiet or Miles McBride would create enough room for the team to sign two veterans.
Begley noted that the Knicks are likely to wait until training camp or the preseason to make any final decisions regarding roster spots.
Despite the lingering uncertainty as to which players will still be on the roster when the regular season begins on Oct. 22, the backlog of veteran guards auditioning for a spot could mean the Knicks are comfortable moving on from Payne.
Payne has split his 10-season NBA career between the Oklahoma City Thunder, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers and Knicks. He averaged 6.9 points per game last season and could be picked up by a team looking for more guard competition ahead of training camp.
