New York Beats Three Rivals to John Konchar’s One-Year Deal

John Konchar agreed to a one-year deal with the New York Knicks on Tuesday night, agent George S. Langberg of GSL Sports Group said. The defending champions beat Miami, Orlando and Toronto to a 6-foot-5 wing whose $6.165 million salary is still on Minnesota’s books.

Konchar is 30 and entering his eighth NBA season. The fit is a cheaper Josh Hart on a roster that already employs the original, and the money that makes the math work is not New York’s.

A One-Year Deal for a Twice-Traded Wing

Langberg confirmed the agreement to Shams Charania, who posted the news Tuesday night. Further terms were not released. Several people around the league described it as a veteran’s minimum that may not be fully guaranteed, the kind of camp contract a player takes when he already has a paycheck coming from somewhere else.

Free agent forward John Konchar has agreed to a one-year deal with the New York Knicks, agent George S. Langberg of @GSLSportsGroup tells ESPN. Konchar is entering his eighth NBA season. pic.twitter.com/gKZ0yDqgBx

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 16, 2026

The Knicks went 53-29 last season and beat the San Antonio Spurs 4-1 in the NBA Finals. They kept Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart, then replaced Mitchell Robinson with Andre Drummond on a one-year, $3.9 million deal after Robinson left for Boston on a three-year, $47 million contract. Konchar does not fill that center hole. He fills the last wing seat they can still afford.

He went undrafted out of Purdue-Fort Wayne in 2019, debuted with Memphis on November 9 that year, and spent six-plus seasons there as a low-usage connector. New York is the fourth franchise to hold his rights in seven months, and the first that wants him on the floor for a title defense rather than off the books.

Minnesota Still Writes the $6.165 Million Check

Memphis sent him to Utah on February 3 in the Jaren Jackson Jr. blockbuster. On August 29 the Jazz flipped him again. The Timberwolves announced they had acquired Konchar and Cody Williams from Utah for Josh Green and cash, then waived Konchar the same day.

Green’s expiring $14.68 million deal was the piece Minnesota needed to move. Williams, the No. 10 pick in 2024, stayed at $6.02 million. Konchar’s final year of a three-year, $18.495 million extension he signed with Memphis in July 2022 was fully guaranteed at $6.165 million, so the Wolves stretched the hit to clear room for Jonathan Kuminga. He cannot re-sign with Utah or Minnesota. He can take a cheap New York deal without leaving money on the table, because that money is already owed in Minneapolis.

THE PATH FROM MEMPHIS TO NEW YORK

1. February 3, 2026: Memphis trades him to Utah in the Jaren Jackson Jr. deal.
2. August 29, 2026: Utah sends him to Minnesota with Cody Williams for Josh Green and cash.
3. August 29, 2026: Minnesota waives him the same day and remains on the $6.165 million.
4. September 15, 2026: He agrees to a one-year deal with the Knicks.

That sequence is why a 4.4-point scorer had leverage in September. He did not need Miami’s timeline. He needed a roster that still had a standard contract to give, and a reason to believe he would survive camp.

Back-to-Back Triple-Doubles With the Jazz

The regular-season line does not explain the bidding. Across 363 games and 65 starts he has averaged 4.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 17.6 minutes, shooting 46.9 percent from the field and 34.9 percent from three. Last season, split between Memphis and Utah, he played 56 games with eight starts and posted 4.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and a career-high 1.5 steals in 19.9 minutes.

Utah is where the tape changed. In 26 games, including seven starts, he played 26.2 minutes and put up 5.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 block. That 5.9 is not a season average. His combined 2025-26 scoring stayed 4.4 because Memphis had used him 14.5 minutes a night for 30 games. Give him a real shift and the counting stats swell, which is the Hart comparison in miniature.

THE 2025-26 SPLIT

On April 7 in New Orleans he came off the bench for 38 minutes and posted 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 156-137 loss, his second career triple-double. The first had come with Memphis on April 10, 2022, a 17-point, 13-rebound, 10-assist night against Boston. Three nights after the Pelicans game he did it again at home, finishing 11 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, five steals and two blocks in a 147-101 win over the Grizzlies. Teammate Bez Mbeng also logged a triple-double off the bench in that game, 27 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, the first time two NBA reserves had done it in the same night.

Every single game, they sell out. During the weekdays, anytime, any game, they really show up and it’s really awesome to see.

John Konchar, after the April 10 triple-double in Salt Lake City

Jazz coach Will Hardy said he could not have been happier for both players. Those April nights are what circulated when the Knicks news dropped, including a clip of the 6-foot-5 wing blocking Anthony Davis. The selling point is not scoring. It is a body that rebounds his position, moves the ball, and generates steals without needing plays called for him.

Heat, Magic and Raptors Came Up Empty

Marc Stein had listed Miami, New York, Orlando and Toronto as the teams on Konchar in mid-September and called him one of the top free agents still available. All four sit in the East. Only one just won a title. The other three needed a low-usage wing more than New York did, and they still lost him.

Miami had already spoken with his camp about a training-camp look, with Myron Gardner as the internal competition on a minimum that is only partially guaranteed at $500,000. Heat officials told Konchar’s representatives they would follow up this week on a possible offer. He did not wait. Orlando, like Miami, already had 14 players on standard contracts and no duty to carry 15. Toronto, after bringing Kawhi Leonard back, did not have room under a first-apron hard cap to add even a minimum salary.

THE EAST TEAMS THAT MISSED

• Miami Heat: Wanted a camp battle with Myron Gardner and asked him to wait on a follow-up that never beat New York to the punch.
• Orlando Magic: Had interest and 14 standard contracts already, with no requirement to fill a 15th seat.
• Toronto Raptors: Liked the profile and could not fit a minimum under the first-apron hard cap.

New York was not the club with the cleanest path to minutes. It was the club with a ring, a Hart-shaped hole at the end of the bench, and a cap sheet that still had one veteran-minimum slot before the hard line. For a player Minnesota is already paying, that was enough.

How the Second Apron Caps the Last Spot

The league set the 2026-27 salary cap at $164.961 million and the second apron of $221.686 million, with the first apron at $209.015 million. A second-apron team cannot send cash in trades, cannot use a mid-level exception, and cannot combine salaries to make a deal work. That is the box Leon Rose is in, and it is why a twice-waived wing is the actual championship move at the margin.

A one-year minimum for a player with seven years of service pays him $3,286,399. The cap hit, and the charge against the apron, is only $2,449,421, because the league covers the extra veteran pay on one-year minimums. With Konchar on a standard deal, the Knicks sit at 14 players and roughly $3.2 million under the second apron, too tight for a 15th standard contract unless they move someone.

THE 2026-27 LINES THAT BIND THE KNICKS

• Salary cap: $164.961 million, the figure every exception is scaled from.
• Second apron: $221.686 million, the hard cap that froze New York at 14 standard deals.
• Konchar’s likely hit: $2,449,421 against the apron if the deal is a one-year minimum.
• Room left: About $3.2 million, short of another full veteran minimum without a corresponding cut.

Charania said the Knicks still had two open roster spots and were expected to run a camp battle for one of them while possibly leaving the 15th empty. Ian Begley said they also added center Drew Eubanks on a camp deal. Konchar is the wing they did not want to lose to an East rival. Eubanks is the big they still need to sort behind Towns and Drummond. Only one of those auditions can clear the apron on opening night if both stick.

The Three-Point Rate New York Will Live With

The number that should keep Mike Brown honest is not 4.4 points. It is last season’s 28.3 percent from three, including 25.0 percent in Utah when the minutes were real. Career 34.9 percent is playable next to Brunson and Towns. A 25 percent spacer on a champion is a liability the first time a defense ignores him in May.

He has never averaged more than 5.1 points in a full season, that mark coming in 2022-23 with Memphis. The Knicks do not need him to score. They need him to rebound from the wing, tag a big in transition, and survive closeouts. Landry Shamet, Jordan Clarkson and Bridges already cover the shooting. What left with Robinson was size, offensive glass and a second non-scorer who did dirty work. Drummond covers some of the glass. Konchar covers some of the wing minutes Hart cannot play every night.

Put him on the floor with Brunson and he is a passer and a rebounder. Put him on the floor without a shooter at the other wing and the spacing dies. That is the trade they accepted when they chose him over waiting for a true spacer who was never coming at this price.

Drew Eubanks Is Still Competing for a Job

Training camp opens October 1. The regular-season opener is October 20 against Philadelphia. Between those dates the Knicks have to decide whether Konchar’s deal becomes a real roster spot, whether Eubanks beats him or joins him, and whether a young forward on a two-way track is the one who gets squeezed. The established guards, Miles McBride included, are not the ones a 14th veteran wing displaces. The developmental seats are.

WHAT WE KNOW

• The agreement: A one-year deal with the Knicks, confirmed by Langberg on Tuesday night.
• The old money: Minnesota still owes the $6.165 million from the Memphis extension.
• The East field: Miami, Orlando and Toronto were in, and he chose New York rather than wait on Miami.

WHAT IS UNCONFIRMED

• The guarantee: How much of the Knicks deal is guaranteed, if any, has not been published.
• The 15th spot: New York may keep that seat empty to stay under the second apron.
• Eubanks: The camp deal is real; whether it becomes a standard contract is not.

Camp opens October 1 with Konchar in the building and the 15th standard seat likely vacant. Minnesota will still be paying him in March. Miami will still be looking for the wing it did not close on in September.