Will the Knicks bring over this French Olympian?

Yesterday, John Hollinger of The Athletic wrote a summary article about this year’s Olympic basketball. Tucked in his piece was this note:

“The New York Knicks own the rights to Mathias Lessort, the athletic French forward who had a solid tournament and is signed with Greece’s Panathinaikos for the coming season. Lessort can’t shoot, however, and at 6-9 is undersized to play the middle at the NBA level. He turns 29 in September and could be a last-resort option for New York next offseason if the Knicks can’t fill their backup center hole.”

Mathias Lessort is a French professional basketball player born on September 29, 1995, in Fort-de-France, Martinique. Primarily a center, he stands 6 feet 9 inches tall, weighs 240 lbs, and has a 7’1” wingspan. Currently, he plays for Panathinaikos in the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague. Last season, Mathias Lessort averaged 10.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game.

Lessort began his professional career in France with Élan Chalon, where he won multiple national championships with their youth and development teams. He debuted professionally in the French Pro A league during the 2014-15 season. Over the years, he has played for several European clubs, including JSF Nanterre, Crvena Zvezda, Unicaja, Bayern Munich, AS Monaco, and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

In the EuroLeague, Lessort has been a All-EuroLeague First Team selection in 2023 and 2024. He also won the EuroLeague title in 2024 with Panathinaikos and represented France in the 2024 Summer Olympics, where he helped the team secure a silver medal. Lessort played a significant role at the 2024 Paris Olympics. In particular, his defensive efforts were crucial in limiting Germany’s Franz Wagner, who had been averaging 20.8 points in the tournament but was held to just 10 points in their meeting.

Do the Knicks need Lessort? Recently they re-signed Precious Achiuwa to a one-year contract worth $6 million. This helped to fill the gap left by Isaiah Hartenstein, who departed for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Achiuwa played well for the Knicks last season; he joined the club in a midseason trade with the Toronto Raptors and after that averaged 7.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. He will serve as the primary backup center behind Mitchell Robinson, and spell Julius Randle for short stints. Plus, he can hit a shot occasionally.

And New York still has Jericho Sims on the depth chart. Jericho appears to be working hard on his offensive game (if tweeted videos are to be believed), and the bouncier Sims could be Thibs’ preferred sub against longer-limbed centers.

Obviously, we’re reporting on Lessort because of the Hollinger mention. However, despite the big man’s not unshabby résumé and his quality play in Paris, don’t bet on Mathias Lessort suiting up for New York anytime soon. Our money is on the Knicks going into the season with the guys they’ve got and then making a trade at the deadline if they lack rim protection off the bench. Nonetheless, it doesn’t hurt to have a silver-medalist waiting in the wings in case the wheels, ankles, or knees fall off.

Go Knicks.