The Knicks keep circling back to Kevin McCullar Jr., and that alone says something.
A little more than a year after Phoenix took him in the second round of the 2024 draft, McCullar Jr. first landed a two-way deal with New York. He did it again right before the 2025-26 season.
Now, just ahead of the 2026-27 campaign, he’s back on another two-way pact. For a player who has spent so much time on the edge of the roster, the Knicks clearly see enough to keep giving him another look.
McCullar Jr. has not had many chances to prove himself, but the moments he has gotten have stood out. In late December, during a tricky stretch when New York won five of seven games but every one of those victories was tight, he delivered one of the more useful bench outings of the run. Against Atlanta, with Josh Hart unavailable, McCullar Jr. logged 24 minutes and put up 13 points, eight rebounds with four on the offensive glass, three made threes, two assists and two steals in a Knicks win.
He popped again in the season finale. With all the starters sitting except Mikal Bridges, who played 23 seconds to preserve his games played streak, McCullar Jr. topped 20 minutes for only the third time in his pro career and scored 14 points, a career high. That’s been the pattern: scarce opportunities, but production when the door opens.
At 6-foot-6, he gives New York size on the wing, a spot where depth is never a luxury. He had been projected as a first-round pick out of Kansas before a late knee injury in his final college season knocked him out of the NCAA Tournament and pushed him into the second round. Since then, the Knicks’ coaching and medical staffs have worked with him on his health and his outside shot.
That blend of familiarity, upside and flashes of real production could matter if the final roster spot comes down to McCullar Jr. and someone like Ochai Agbaji. Agbaji has the more established pro résumé, but he hasn’t done anything for New York. McCullar Jr. has at least shown enough to stay in the conversation.
There’s also a practical angle here. If McCullar Jr. is the fallback option, that may be enough.
Teams usually prefer a known quantity over a mystery, and McCullar Jr. is younger than Agbaji and Bruce Brown while also being a bit bigger than both. The Knicks want reliability, and he might offer that, especially if Mike Brown wants to trim the minutes of Hart and Bridges after a long playoff run.
Last season, New York finished third in the East, one game ahead of Cleveland. That December win in Atlanta, helped along by McCullar Jr., might have nudged the Knicks toward a different postseason path, one that would have started against the Hawks and 76ers instead of the Raptors and Pistons. Detroit swept New York in the regular season, winning by 15, 31 and 38 points, while the Knicks swept Philadelphia by 39, six, 14 and 30.
The larger questions around New York’s title defense are obvious. Is the group getting too comfortable?
Will the failure to extend Karl-Anthony Towns disrupt months of good vibes? And what’s the answer at backup backup center?
McCullar Jr. is easy to miss in that picture, but maybe he shouldn’t be. Sometimes a two-way signing in the fall turns into a winter win that matters later on.
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