Knicks Waive Lance Thomas

JUNE 29: As expected, the Knicks have waived Thomas, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

JUNE 14: The Knicks plan on waiving forward Lance Thomas, though they have interest in re-signing him, Ian Begley of SNY TV reports.

Thomas has a non-guaranteed contract of $7.58MM for next season and would receive $1MM if he’s on the roster through June 30. Thomas’ salary is the largest on the Knicks’ ledger. Waiving him would give them even more cap space to pursue free agents and blockbuster trades.

However, the club appreciates Thomas for his leadership and willingness to mentor younger players, according to Begley, so it would try to re-sign him at a reduced rate. With the team intend on giving its younger players experience, Thomas appeared in just 46 games this past season. He averaged 4.5 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 17.0 MPG.

He has been in the Knicks organization since the 2014/15 season after starting his career in New Orleans in 2011. Thomas, 31, also appeared in 22 games with Oklahoma City before joining the Knicks. He’s entering the final year of a four-year, $27.5MM contract, which he signed in 2016.

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