Breaking Down the Knicks' Reported Signing of Igor Milicic Jr.

The New York Knicks are in the midst of preparing for the 2026-27 season as the defending champions. It’s been a mostly quiet summer, but Leon Rose awoke from his weeks-long slumber by signing youngster Igor Milicic Jr. to an Exhibit-10 contract, per Karol Wasiek of international outlet Inertia Sport.

The move isn't quite the biggest of news, however, it is the first outside addition for New York this offseason since signing veteran big man Andre Drummond over two months ago.

Let's dive into what this signing means for the Knicks and how it could benefit them.

Igor Milicic is an intriguing player to watch at Knicks training camp

After signing Milicic, the Knicks still have room to add up to seven more players with teams being allowed to carry up to 21 players into training camp. They are the only team in the league with all three two-way spots still up for grabs, so Milicic is far from the only player who'll be signed in the coming days with preseason play less than a month away.

An Exhibit 10 deal is a non-guaranteed pact that allows players to join an NBA team for camp. There's some financial incentive attached, as Milicic can earn a bonus up to $91K on top of his G League salary if he’s waived before the season starts and spends at least 60 days with New York’s affiliate in Westchester.

Over the summer, Milicic represented Poland in two World Cup qualifying games against Germany and Israel, where he totaled 31 points and got to play for his father, who is the head coach.

Igor Milicic Jr vs Germany
38 mins
18 pts
8 rebs
1 stl
3 blks
1 turnover
6/9 fgs
3/5 3pts
3/5 fts pic.twitter.com/tiRyuQCrBf
— Piotr Zarychta (@ZHighlights_) August 31, 2026

After a transient collegiate career, where Milicic spent one year at Virginia, two at Charlotte, and then one more at Tennessee, the 6-foot-10 forward went undrafted last summer. He eventually signed an Exhibit 10 deal with Philadelphia and spent the season with its G League affiliate.

In 45 games with the Delaware Blue Coats, Milicic averaged 6.9 points and 5.0 rebounds in 18.8 minutes per game. He’s still very much a project, but the combination of his versatility, mobility and ability to space the floor, while standing 6-foot-10, makes him a worthwhile flier.

During his time with coach Rick Barnes at Tennessee, Milicic got familiar with a motion offense, which is a system with simple reads and one deployed by Knicks lead man Mike Brown. That experience should help him get acclimated and possibly aid him in doing what he needs to stick around.

It's notable that Milicic is another investment on the wing for New York, which only days ago also traded for G League shooting guard and marksman Mitchell Mascari. This is on top of the recent reporting that noted the team has interest in guard/forward John Konchar following his release. That's not even to mention drafting Tyler Nickel and re-signing Jordan Clarkson with Landry Shamet and Mohamed Diawara already in tow.

The Konchar news was a good indication the team might not be totally satisfied with their collection of wings, or at the very least wants to give them some extra motivation ahead of a repeat bid by bringing in additional competition. Milicic will certainly help that cause as an intriguing, young (only 24 years old) playmaker who could get some run this preseason while New York likely rests its top contributors on the heels of a long playoffs.

If the 24-year-old eventually realizes his dream of making his NBA debut, he will become only the fifth Poland-born player to do so.

The first was Cezary Trybański, who debuted in 2002 with Memphis and played three games with the Knicks in 2004. Then came Maciej Lampe, who was a ballyhooed second-round pick by the Knicks in 2003. The most accomplished of the group is Marcin Gortat and the most recent is Jeremy Sochan, who was born in Poland while his parents played basketball there.

Get Knicks On SI straight to your inbox: sign up for our free newsletter here.

Add us as a preferred source on Google