June 03, 2026
Imagn Images/David Richard
Former Sixers first-round pick Landry Shamet has become a cult hero for Knicks fans.
On Wednesday night, the San Antonio Spurs will play host to the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals.
And, for the 25th year in a row, the league's championship series will not include the Sixers.
This series should be outstanding; the Knicks are riding the high of an unprecedented 11-game winning streak to close out the Eastern Conference, while the Spurs are coming off an enthralling Game 7 road victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder that vanquished the defending champions.
As was the case in last year's NBA Finals between the Thunder and Indiana Pacers, the Sixers have multiple noteworthy ties to this series:
Shamet, drafted by the Sixers at No. 28 overall in the 2018 NBA Draft out of Wichita State, has had quite an unusual career arc. It was evident immediately that his three-point shooting made him a rotation-caliber guard, though he was seen as a defensive liability without much in the form of ball-handling chops.
In his rookie season, Shamet worked his way into being a reliable piece. He was incredibly consistent, shooting over 40 percent from beyond the arc. He had a three-point barrage one night, knocking down eight triples and scoring 29 points. Not even a month after that, Shamet was on the Los Angeles Clippers.
Shamet was one of the key pieces of the package the Sixers sent to Los Angeles in a stunner at that 2019 trade deadline. After acquiring Jimmy Butler early in the season – Shamet changed jersey numbers a few weeks into his NBA career out of respect for Butler – they went after Tobias Harris, too.
As Shamet and fellow rookie guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander started playoff games for the Clippers, Harris posted underwhelming playoff performances, which held the Sixers back against the eventual champion Toronto Raptors.
But from there, Shamet's career was erratic. He only lasted one more year with the Clippers, then got traded to the Brooklyn Nets. After a year there, he was traded to the Phoenix Suns, where he spent two seasons. The Suns traded him to the Washington Wizards. He spent a year with the Wizards, then was waived and signed with the Knicks. He was waived after suffering a preseason injury. Once he healed, the Knicks brought him back. He played a season in New York, but for the third season in a row played well below 1,000 minutes. He got a non-guaranteed deal to return to the Knicks for a training-camp battle. He won a roster spot – in part because Malcolm Brogdon retired – and suddenly might be New York's key to winning it all.
Shamet is still accurate from beyond the arc, but he is no longer a specialist. He is a tenacious point-of-attack defender whose work on Donovan Mitchell was outstanding in the Eastern Conference Finals. Shamet made 11 of his 12 long-range tries in that sweep over the Cleveland Cavaliers, and New York's offense totally transformed when he played over Josh Hart alongside the Knicks' four non-Hart starters.
And, as the Knicks now try to overcome Victor Wembanyama's transcendent defensive abilities, their best chance will be spacing the floor as much as possible. And while that could mean more minutes for Miles "Deuce" McBride over Hart – McBride's remarkable three-point shooting burned the Sixers in their Game 4 loss to the Knicks in the second round – it has lately been more of Shamet. If the Knicks want to consistently score against Wembanyama, their best grouping might be Shamet, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns.
MORE: What should Mike Gansey's Plan A for 2026 offseason be?
Champagnie was a subject in this week's 5 Sixers thoughts. For those who missed it:
"Julian Champagnie, signed by the Sixers to a two-way contract as an undrafted free agent in 2022, only ended up logging two appearances with the team in his rookie season before being waived. The Sixers signed Mac McClung in Champagnie's two-way spot, and the 6-foot-7 wing landed in San Antonio. He has since become one of the league's elite shooters; the Spurs replaced veteran Harrison Barnes with Champagnie in their starting lineup midway through this season and almost instantly became a juggernaut.
In San Antonio's wire-to-wire 111-103 win to clinch an NBA Finals berth, Champagnie scored 20 points and shot 6-for-10 from beyond the arc. He will be starting in Game 1 this week when the Spurs host the red-hot New York Knicks. If the recent performances of both teams are any indication, the series should be outstanding."
Champagnie is one of the best stories in the NBA this season – a true hidden gem turning into an invaluable part of a brilliant team. He has firmly cemented himself as a long-term component of what the Spurs are trying to do. Having a shooter of his caliber playing alongside a trio of dynamic guards and, of course, Wembanyama, is a boon for the Spurs.
Champagnie is in the third season of a four-year contract paying him $3 million annually. San Antonio has more than enough financial flexibility to decline his team option for next year and put pen to paper on a long-term deal that will probably still be cost-effective for them.
MORE: Answering rapid-fire questions ahead of Mike Gansey's hiring
Bridges was a hell of a draft pick by the Sixers... for a number of minutes. The story is well-documented: the Villanova product was a perfect fit for the Sixers at No. 10 overall in the 2018 NBA Draft. His mother worked for the organization, and he was a local product. But then, during his first press conference as a member of the Sixers, he was traded.
The Sixers sent the draft rights to Bridges to the Suns for the No. 16 overall pick – they used it to select Texas Tech prospect Zhaire Smith – and a future first-round pick, which became part of the same package Shamet was involved in to get the Harris trade with the Clippers done.
This is not Bridges' first trip to the NBA Finals; he quickly blossomed into an elite two-way role player for the Suns and started on their Chris Paul-led team, which fell just short of the Milwaukee Bucks. Then, he was the centerpiece of a massive haul given up by the Suns to land Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets. Eventually, Brooklyn sent him to the Knicks, where he has reconnected with former Villanova teammates Brunson and Hart.
The Knicks gave up an almost unfathomably large haul of draft picks to land Bridges, and for a while it looked disastrous. But Bridges has been unbelievably good for New York during their surge over the last several weeks. His team is four wins away from nobody caring about draft picks.
MORE: Zhaire Smith says he is 'glad' about his career path
