THURSDAY, 9:35am: The signing is official, the team announced via Twitter.
TUESDAY, 8:57pm: Clark’s deal with New York is a 10-day contract, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN (Twitter link).
3:58pm: The Knicks and free agent forward Earl Clark are finalizing an agreement on a new deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. It’s unclear whether it’ll be a 10-day contract or an arrangement that covers the rest of the season. Wojnarowski first reported earlier this afternoon that the team was in pursuit, and Frank Isola of the New York Daily News noted a deal was a strong possibility after Clark met with coach Mike Woodson and GM Steve Mills.
New York has been linked to Ike Diogu, Lester Hudson, Tiny Gallon, Dahntay Jones and Jimmer Fredette in the past two days as the team has sought to fill a pair of roster spots opened via buyout agreements with Metta World Peace and Beno Udrih. Clark has played both forward positions over the past couple of seasons. The 14th overall pick in the 2009 draft had some of the best performances of his career last year with the Lakers, but he regressed after signing a two-year, $8.5MM deal with Cleveland in the summer. The Cavs traded him to the Sixers at the deadline, who waived him less than 24 hours later.
It’ll be a prorated minimum-salary pact for the Kevin Bradbury client, since the Knicks can’t offer anything else, but New York is in line to pay 3.25 times the amount of his cap hit in luxury taxes on the deal. Clark will likely forfeit a tiny portion of his $4.25MM guaranteed salary from the Cavs, thanks to Cleveland’s set-off rights.