Pay Day! Knicks Guarantee Contracts of 'Invaluable' Ryan Arcidiacono, Svi Mykhailiuk
Per Steve Popper of Newsday, the New York Knicks are set to keep Ryan Arcidiacono and Svi Mykhailiuk on their roster for the remainder of the season.
Both Arcidiacono and Mykhailiuk are on matching one-year deals with cap hits of just over $1.8 million. The team was able to waive the pair by 5 p.m. ET on Saturday with no financial penalty.
While Arcidiacono and Mykhailiuk are the de facto 12th men on the Knicks bench ... averaging a combined 5.8 minutes ... head coach Tom Thibodeau had kind words for the pair leading into the Knicks' Wednesday win over San Antonio.
“As far as I’m concerned from my end, both guys have been terrific,” Thibodeau said, per Ian Begley of SNY. “They’re invaluable to us. Just the way their attitude and approach, whether it’s practice, the game, they’re fully engaged. They make things go well. They can fill in. They bring energy every day. So they both have helped us a lot. So I’ve been very pleased with them.”
Arcidiacono is in the midst of his second season with the Knicks and is well-known for his shared collegiate endeavors at Villanova University with current franchise face Jalen Brunson. The two collaborated on the Wildcats' 2016 national championship victory, the first of two in a three-year span for the program. He has played 20 games with the Knicks over the last two seasons after four years with the Chicago Bulls.
The Ukranian-born Mykhailiuk has played with five different teams over five NBA seasons since entering the Association as a second-round pick of the Los Angeles Lakers out of Kansas University in 2018, shortly after earning All-Big 12 honors with the Jayhawks. This is his first year in New York after playing 56 games (including five starts) with the Toronto Raptors last season.
Arcidiacono, Mykhailiuk, and the Knicks (22-18) return to action on Monday night when they take on the Milwaukee Bucks (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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