The New York Knicks have signed Dallas Mavericks restricted free agent center Moussa Cissé to a two-year offer sheet, per Shams Charania of ESPN — the first concrete result of a center search that has run all summer. Dallas has until Monday at 11:59 p.m. ET to match and keep him.
The commitment is as light as these things get. Both years are at the league minimum — $2,185,116 next season and $2,571,895 in 2027-28 — with the first year 50 percent guaranteed and the second year fully non-guaranteed, per Hoops Rumors. Cissé went undrafted in 2025 and spent his rookie season on a two-way contract with Dallas, which is precisely why the offer sheet is the interesting part: New York is betting a champion’s 14th roster spot, not real money, that the Mavericks would rather not carry a third-string center at a standard-contract price.
The need is real. The Knicks have been working this position since Mitchell Robinson left for Boston and Ariel Hukporti signed in Philadelphia, and the front office pursued trades for New Orleans’ Yves Missi and Charlotte’s Moussa Diabaté before turning to the restricted market. Andre Drummond came back on a minimum deal to be the veteran backup; Cissé would be the young rim protector developing behind him rather than a rotation answer on day one.
There is a knock-on effect worth watching. An offer sheet is a standard contract, so if Dallas declines to match, Cissé takes the 14th standard spot — the same opening Tyler Nickel spent Summer League making a case for. With roughly $3.27 million of room under the second apron, New York can afford the minimum either way; it cannot afford both plans at once. Sensible expectations apply: this is a champion filling its margins at scale prices, and the Mavericks still hold the pen until Monday night.
For fantasy purposes, Cissé is off the redraft board regardless of outcome — third-center minutes behind Karl-Anthony Towns and Drummond are not a role, they are insurance. In deep dynasty formats he is a name to file away only if Dallas declines to match, and only as a shot-blocking specialist stash whose path to minutes requires an injury in front of him.
