Guillermo Hernangomez, a 6-foot-11-inch center from Madrid, playing for Spain during a EuroBasket 2015 Group B game against Germany. Boris Streubel/Bongarts, via Getty Images
The Knicks have been busy this summer remaking their roster. Some of it might even look familiar — at least to fans of the Spanish A.C.B. League.Earlier this week, the Knicks apparently reached deals with two European players, Guillermo Hernangomez and Mindaugas Kuzminskas, to fill out their bench. Both players competed in the same top-tier Spanish league as Kristaps Porzingis, a rookie sensation last season after the Knicks drafted him with the fourth pick in the 2015 N.B.A. draft.
Hernangomez, a 6-foot-11-inch center from Madrid, whose brother Juan was selected No. 15 by the Denver Nuggets in the draft last month, played alongside Porzingis on a dysfunctional Baloncesta Sevilla squad in 2014-15.
The Philadelphia 76ers drafted Hernangomez in the second round in 2015 and traded his rights to the Knicks, but he returned to Europe for an additional year of play. Both signings were confirmed by a person who had knowledge of the deals but was not authorized to publicly comment before N.B.A. signings became official on Thursday.
Reached by phone Wednesday, Fran Fraschilla, an ESPN basketball analyst who is an expert on international players, praised the Knicks for looking to the Spanish league for talent that could eventually fill roles on the club rather than overspending on N.B.A. free agents in a market that has seemingly gone berserk.
With backup players around the league making $8 million to $12 million a year, Frascilla said, “these two guys are a good bargain.”
“They’ll be an especially good bargain if either one of them can crack the rotation,” he said.
Neither player is expected to be an overnight sensation, like Porzingis, but they come from a league that Fraschilla called “the second-best in the world,” after the N.B.A. He likened the Spanish league to Class AAA baseball, whereas N.C.A.A. men’s basketball, in Fraschilla’s opinion, is more like Class AA.
“The best teams in Spain would beat your normal top-10 college team by 30 points almost every night,” Fraschilla said. “And it translates. Success in the A.C.B. by and large has translated to success’’ in the N.B.A.
Pau and Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, Goran Dragic and Porzingis are prime examples, Fraschilla said.
N.B.A. teams are increasingly looking to the Spanish league for prospects, hoping that the size and maturity of its players will make them well suited for the N.B.A. Last year, Porzingis and Mario Hezonja (FC Barcelona) were selected in the top five of the draft, while Hernangomez, Marcus Eriksson (FC Barcelona), Nikola Radicevic (Baloncesto Sevilla) and Dani Díez were all taken in the second round.
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In 2013, five players were drafted out of the Spanish league, including the No. 16 pick, the 7-footer Lucas Nogueira, who has since struggled, playing mostly in the N.B.A.’s development league.
The Knicks’ scouting interest in Porzingis last year certainly helped them grow familiar with Hernangomez, a powerfully built 22-year-old who goes by Billy, according to Fraschilla, and plays with a blue-collar style.
Unlike his brother, a skilled perimeter player, Hernangomez is going to be useful mostly inside the paint, where he can take advantage of his size.
“Billy is more of a banger,” Fraschilla said. “It gives the Knicks insurance up front when they have to play power basketball.”
Mindaugas Kuzminskas, a small forward from Lithuania, has been playing for the Spanish team Unicaja since 2013. Vitaliy Timkiv/Sputnik, via Associated Press
Fraschilla has been following Kuzminskas’s development since he was 18. A small forward from Lithuania who has been playing for Unicaja since 2013, Kuzminskas, now 26, has made a bigger impact on the Spanish league every year.
“He’s become a good European player,” Fraschilla said. “He’s moved up the ranks. He’s an athletic wing defender who can guard N.B.A. 3s and small-ball 4-men. His best attributes are his athleticism, his toughness, and he’s a high-character guy.”
Fraschilla’s best comparison for Kuzminskas is Jonas Jerebko, the Boston Celtics wing player who has averaged 6.7 points a game and shot 45.8 percent from the field in six N.B.A. seasons.
“An energy forward,” Fraschilla added. “Takes some loose balls, some charges, occasional put-back dunk, make a 3 — he’ll be a crowd favorite.”
They are pieces the Knicks are trying to put around a drastically revamped starting rotation that now consists of Porzingis, Carmelo Anthony, Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Courtney Lee. Point guard Brandon Jennings and small forward Lance Thomas have also agreed to deals and could be the leading players off the bench.
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One player who will not be part of the bench is the 24-year-old shooting guard Langston Galloway, who has averaged 9.1 points and 27.5 minutes in 127 games over the last two seasons. He has opted to leave the Knicks and sign with the New Orleans Pelicans.
