Many have wondered aloud of late what the Knicks’ plan is for the final roster spot they are legally able to fill under the second apron.
After losing Mitchell Robinson and Ariel Hukporti to division rivals, they’ve signed Andre Drummond and shown interest in the likes of Jonas Valanciunas and Kevon Looney, but the latter two have found better deals and situations elsewhere, leading to speculation throughout the last two weeks.
Several members of the P&T community have loudly vouched for Moussa Cisse,
a young big man on the Dallas Mavericks who’s currently on a two-way qualifying offer with the team. Despite his promise, his market was extremely quiet all throughout free agency.
That was until Saturday afternoon, when the Knicks boldly staked their claim and signed Cisse to a two-year offer sheet.
Cisse went undrafted in the 2025 NBA Draft out of Memphis after a complicated, five-year college career that began at Memphis, saw him transfer to Oklahoma State the year after Cade Cunningham left, saw him spend 2023-24 at Ole Miss, and saw him return to Memphis for his fifth season. In his collegiate career, he was known as an elite rim protector with limited offensive ability who split time as a starter and backup center.
Cisse inked a two-way deal with the Mavericks last October after making an impression throughout Summer League and training camp, spending much of 2025-26 in the G League, where he dominated to the tune of 14.7 points and 13.1 rebounds on 63.1% from the field in 15 games.
But with the Mavs’ season in total free fall due to their rebuild around Cooper Flagg, Cisse was able to appear in 38 games with the big league club, where he flashed his potential. A 15-point, 9-rebound, 4-block gem at the World’s Most Famous Arena on MLK Day is probably where most fans saw him for the first time:
Outside of that game and a 17-point, 20-rebound gem to close the season in a meaningless game, he flew well under the radar, averaging just 4.5 points and 5.7 rebounds on 57.4% from the field, never attempting a shot outside eight feet.
His per-36 numbers are quite impressive, averaging 11.5 points and 14.7 rebounds, showing that he’s a bang-for-your-buck big. All told, this is probably the closest you could come to a Mitchell Robinson replacement in terms of size (seven foot, 7’5” wingspan!), defense, rebounding, and impact, albeit with a lot more risk due to his youth and rawness. He mimics a rookie Mitch at times with his foul woes at times, but with all the positives as well.
The contract structure is quite odd. He’s signed to a two-year deal worth about $5 million, but only $1.1 million is guaranteed for the soon-to-be 24-year-old. The second year of the deal is completely non-guaranteed, giving the team flexibility in similar fashion to how they structured the Jose Alvarado and Landry Shamet contracts.
And then, there’s the elephant in the room. Cisse is not a regular free agent. He’s just the second player this offseason to sign an offer sheet and the first to sign one with the Knicks since the infamous $72 million contract to Tim Hardaway Jr. in 2017, which wasn’t matched by Atlanta.
The Mavericks have the right to match, having until the end of the day on Monday to decide. At this point, it’s out of the Knicks’ hands entirely.
Cisse’s contract would fit fine in the Mavericks’ sheets, but it would be their 19th player on their roster and 16th signed to a standard deal, likely necessitating them to cut someone by the time the season begins. Only Ryan Nembhard’s contract is unguaranteed (and they wouldn’t cut him anyway), so they would have to eat the salary of whoever they cut.
The big question, though, is if Dallas wants to keep him.
I’d imagine that their plan the whole time was to get him back on a two-way contract. His limited NBA experience wouldn’t give him much leverage, and prospective teams would be scared away by the RFA tender. Now needing to give him a two-year standard deal to keep him, it’ll at least be pondered in the room.
Their center rotation is already a bit jammed with Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II, along with a mountain of power forwards in Cooper Flagg, Morez Johnson Jr., Santi Aldama, and P.J. Washington. I doubt this would stop them if they wanted to retain him, but it’s a factor.
There’s also the minutiae of offer sheets. If the Mavericks match, Cisse gets a no-trade clause for the 2026-27 season, something that could hurt Dallas’ flexibility. There’s also the factor of them having an entirely new brass from when he initially signed in Dallas last year, with both GM Nico Harrison and head coach Jason Kidd dismissed. Will Dusty May and Mike Schmitz want him?
If the contract is matched, there is no recourse for the Knicks. Teams above the first apron are prohibited from acquiring players via sign-and-trade, which kills any hopes of negotiating something afterwards. If it isn’t matched, the Knicks will likely be done for the offseason and ink Tyler Nickel and/or Jack Kayil to a two-way contract.
We just have to wait and see. I’m not confident, but I’d be ecstatic if Dallas once again undervalued a guy and allowed him to waltz to NYC.
