Knicks Make Trade for G League Sharpshooter: What It Means for NY

As training camp draws closer, the Knicks appear to finally be putting plans into motion for the season.

On Thursday, the Westechester Knicks have agreed to a G League trade with the the Stockton Kings, sending out the returning player rights of Vinicius da Silva and a future first-round pick in the G League draft (via Cleveland) in exchange for the rights to Mitchell Mascari.

The Westchester Knicks have acquired the returning player rights to Guard Mitchell Mascari from the Stockton Kings, in exchange for the returning player rights to Vinicius da Silva and their future first-round pick (via Cleveland) in the NBA G League Draft. pic.twitter.com/03idhH0Z3o
— Westchester Knicks (@wcknicks) September 10, 2026

Though this is a small move in the grand scheme for the defending champs, it's still notable for a few reasons.

Breaking down the impact of Knicks' G League trade for Mitchell Mascari

First and foremost, this is a slight hit to the team's center situation. Da Silva is a seven-footer who hails from Brazil and suited up in nine games for Westchester this past G League season, averaging 4.4 rebounds per contest across 15.5 minutes. Of course, that's a very small sample size, but it does remove a long-shot developmental option from the mix.

That said, the fact the Knicks forked over Da Silva and a G League first-round pick signals they quite like Mascari, who is more than worth taking a chance on due to his sharpshooting abilities.

As a senior at Drake, Mascari put himself on NBA radars by averaging 9.4 points while shooting 40.3% from deep on 6.2 attempts per game. This helped him catch on with the Kings, whom he then joined with an Exhibit 10 contract in Sacramento.

During the entire 2025-26 campaign, Mascari demonstrated himself as a threat beyond the arc, hitting 42.5% of his threes while averaging 8.5 points across 48 games. His best display happened to come against Westchester, when he buried seven of nine tries from downtown on Jan. 10.

Mitchell Mascari went 7-9 from three against the Westchester Knicks in January pic.twitter.com/rY3yH3b5rN https://t.co/JUtYwxmg2i
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) September 10, 2026

Mascari possesses nice size at 6-foot-5, though he isn't much of a playmaker. His per-36-minutes average of 1.6 assists per game during the G League regular season certainly signal this.

However, he is willing to crash the boards and use his height, as evidenced by his 5.5 rebounds per 36 minutes. That's encouraging for a player who may be limited in some ways offensively to still add value through other avenues.

Notably, this move for Mascari bears a resemblance to the Knicks taking interest in Dink Pate ahead of last season. They acquired his rights in late August and he then suited up for their G League team, with New York even offering him a chance to join the NBA club before he eventually went to college.

There are no such NCAA worries with Mascari, which makes his arrival even more notable given the path Pate followed in 2025-26. At the very least, it seems the Knicks have real interest in evaluating Mascari up close as a featured part of their G League affiliate, and that could lead to a bigger opportunity if he performs.

Of course, New York could use a scoring-minded and dependable shooter at guard if Miles McBride is moved, like many suspect, at some point this season. So Mascari could be a contingency plan to roll out at any point if a deal comes to fruition.

There's also the fact the Knicks' young core is still pretty uncertain in terms of security with even the top of the pecking order in Mohamed Diawara and Tyler Kolek both followed by real questions. The likely split from Pacôme Dadiet would only further free up developmental resources, which a player like Mascari could receive if he demands the organization's attention with his play.

A lot would have to take place before Mascari is ever even considered for a two-way or 10-day contract and promotion from the G League, but the situation is ripe for a newcomer to emerge as the team's next project, so this move can't simply be brushed off as nothing ahead of camp.

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