The Knicks have signed Shannon Brown for the rest of the season, the team announced via Twitter. The tweet notes that the team’s latest deal with Earl Clark has expired. The Knicks inked Clark to a pair of 10-day contracts at the same time they did so with Brown, so presumably that means New York doesn’t plan to re-sign Clark. The Knicks now have 14 guaranteed contracts, so they can add another player to replace Clark if they choose.
Brown first joined the Knicks late last month after the team waived Metta World Peace and Beno Udrih. The eighth-year veteran guard saw fewer minutes for New York than Clark did, but neither received significant playing time. Clark played a total of 70 minutes in nine games, averaging 2.6 points per contest. Brown has only seen the floor for 57 minutes across nine games, notching 1.8 PPG. Still, it appears the Knicks prefer to keep an extra guard instead of a forward like Clark.
It’s the first player personnel decision for the Knicks since Phil Jackson came aboard as team president. Brown played for then-coach Jackson for parts of three seasons with the Lakers, winning two championships. Clark also played for the Lakers, but that was after Jackson had stepped down as coach.
Brown has spent much of this season out of the league after the Wizards waived him shortly before the start of the season. He was with the Spurs in February on a pair of 10-day contracts, but San Antonio elected not to keep him for the season. New York’s decision to commit to Brown is a slight boon for the Wizards, who can defray a tiny amount of their remaining debt to the Mark Bartelstein client via set-off rights. Washington released Brown in spite of his $3.5MM guaranteed salary before the season to get down to 15 players after the unbalanced Marcin Gortat trade.