The Knicks have made a small but telling move with training camp getting closer, and it points to a little more clarity on how they want to sort through their developmental pipeline.
On Thursday, the Westchester Knicks completed a G League trade with the Stockton Kings, sending 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.
It’s not the kind of transaction that changes the big picture for New York, but it does trim one option from the center group. Da Silva, a seven-footer from Brazil, played in nine games for Westchester last G League season and averaged 4.4 rebounds in 15.5 minutes per game. The sample was small, but he was still one of the longer-shot developmental pieces in the mix.
The more interesting part is what the Knicks gave up to get Mascari. Handing over Da Silva and a future first-round pick suggests they believe there’s something worth exploring here, and Mascari’s shot-making gives the move a clear basketball logic.
At Drake, Mascari turned heads as a senior by averaging 9.4 points while hitting 40.3% from three on 6.2 attempts per game. That performance helped him get on the Kings’ radar, and he later joined Sacramento on an Exhibit 10 contract.
He carried that perimeter threat into the 2025-26 season, knocking down 42.5% of his threes while averaging 8.5 points over 48 games. His biggest showing came against Westchester on Jan. 10, when he buried seven of nine attempts from deep.
Mascari brings good size at 6-foot-5, but he is not a natural playmaker. His 1.6 assists per 36 minutes during the G League regular season back that up. Still, he does offer some useful secondary value, especially on the glass, where he posted 5.5 rebounds per 36 minutes.
That kind of profile matters for a team trying to sort out its next wave of talent. The Knicks have already shown a willingness to dig into the G League market for players they want to evaluate closely, and this move has that same feel. It also echoes their interest in Dink Pate before last season, when they acquired his rights in late August, brought him into the G League fold, and even gave him a shot to join the NBA team before he eventually went to college.
There’s no NCAA issue with Mascari, which makes this a cleaner developmental play. At minimum, it suggests the Knicks want a closer look at him as a featured piece for Westchester, and if he performs, there could be a bigger role waiting.
That possibility gets more interesting if Miles McBride is moved at some point this season, as many expect. In that case, Mascari could become a useful guard option with scoring and shooting baked into his game.
The Knicks’ young group still has plenty of questions around it, too. Mohamed Diawara and Tyler Kolek are both mentioned as players with real uncertainty around their standing, and a likely split from Pacôme Dadiet would open up even more room for development minutes. If Mascari impresses, he could easily become the kind of player the organization starts paying real attention to.
He is a long way from any two-way or 10-day conversation, but this is the sort of move that can matter if the right player turns it into something more. For now, the Knicks have added another shooter to the board, and they clearly think he’s worth watching.
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