Landry Shamet started the playoffs on the fringe of the Knicks' main rotation, then worked his way back into the mix when OG Anunoby went down with a hamstring strain. Now, with Anunoby on track for a Game 1 return in the Eastern Conference Finals, Shamet's place could tighten again just as the Knicks are sorting out who fits where.
That shift matters because the Knicks have been leaning on a rotation that has changed in real time. Ian Begley said on The Putback that he thought Shamet would be in the rotation with OG back, but the numbers and the minutes suggest the next decision is anything but simple.
Jordan Clarkson began the playoffs clearly ahead of Shamet and Jose Alvarado, but by the end of the Philadelphia 76ers series that order looked less settled. Clarkson was 0-of-8 on three-pointers in the playoffs, and by the end of the second round Mike Brown's trust in Shamet appeared to edge out his faith in Clarkson. That kind of late-series swing is what made Shamet relevant again: he did not just get minutes because a teammate was absent, he earned a stronger case as the games tightened.
The context around that rise is straightforward. Anunoby's hamstring strain opened a lane for Shamet, who had begun the postseason outside the Knicks' core group. Once that door opened, he played his way into the discussion, and Begley's read points to a possible three-way squeeze if Anunoby is ready to go for Game 1. The Knicks have also been sending games into garbage time before the fourth quarter, which has made the rotation harder to read and the battle for real playoff minutes even more volatile.
The tension now is between form and fit. If Anunoby returns on schedule, the Knicks must decide whether Shamet's recent run was enough to keep him in the rotation or whether his minutes disappear as the lineup gets healthier. For Shamet, the next stage of the playoffs may come down to whether the Knicks value what he has just done more than the space Anunoby takes back.
