FRIDAY, 1:07pm: The Knicks have officially signed Jennings, the team announced today (via Twitter).
MONDAY, 3:28pm: It’ll be a one-year, $5MM deal for Jennings and the Knicks, according to Goodwill (Twitter link). That could be a nice value pickup for New York if the former 10th overall pick can stay on the court in 2016/17.
3:19pm: Veteran guard Brandon Jennings has become the latest notable free agent to strike a deal with the Knicks, according to Vincent Goodwill of CSN Chicago, who reports (via Twitter) that the two sides have agreed to terms. ESPN’s Marc Stein first reported (via Twitter) that the Knicks were on the verge of reaching an agreement with Jennings.
It has been a busy offseason so far for the Knicks, who kicked things off in June by acquiring Derrick Rose in a five-year player trade with the Bulls. The team has since reached agreements with Joakim Noah and Courtney Lee on four-year deals that will pay them $72MM and $48MM, respectively.
Based on those deals, the Knicks weren’t expected to have a whole lot of money left to go shopping for a backup point guard, so landing Jennings could be a coup for the team, assuming there are no other moving pieces in play. We’ll have to wait for the full terms of the deal to surface before we can evaluate it, but if he’s healthy, Jennings is capable of backing up Rose and scoring points off the bench.
Jennings, 26, has been plagued by injuries over the last two years, having missed about half the season in both 2014/15 and 2015/16. He also saw his minutes and his production take a huge hit last season in both Detroit and Orlando. He averaged just 6.9 PPG for the season, after never having scored less than 15.4 PPG in any of his six previous seasons.
As is the case with Rose and Noah, the Knicks are presumably counting on Jennings to return to health and to look a little more like his old self going forward.
The Knicks figure to have renounce the rights to one or two of the free agents they’d wanted to re-sign in order to make room for Jennings. Derrick Williams, Langston Galloway, and Lance Thomas are candidates to be let go, with Williams likely heading that list.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Good move. The Knicks have had a good offseason.
the deal is nice, but do they have the cap space to do it without losing anyone of importance? If they can keep Galloway and Thomas, this would be a really good offseason for them, but I dont think they have the money for Thomas. I figure they’d go over the cap to keep Galloway
It all depends on Noah and Lee’s contracts. If they’re backloaded the Knicks will still have money to sign other players.
but enough for Thomas? I personally think he could get something in the $7-11 million per range for 3 years, and there are other teams interested in him. Last I saw, he apparently would be willing to take less to stay with the Knicks, but what can they offer him? If I’m not mistaken, they have his early bird rights, right? in that case, they’re limited to a pretty low amount if they want to try to keep him without using cap space.
He said he’s willing to take a pay cut and the Knicks could go over the cap to re-sign him
for Thomas? I know they didnt give him a qualifying offer…my questions still remain, unless someone can clarify this?
never mind. got the clarification on the galloway article on what the knicks can offer thomas. I was right on the early bird rights, so they can offer him $6.2 million per. If he indeed is willing to stay with the knicks for less, that would be a good deal for them
Still don’t think Knicks make the playoffs. Lee and Noah were slight downgrades to Affaflo and Lopez. Rose is a major upgrade over Calderon yes, but Rose has injury concerns like Jennings. Pacers, Cavs, Raptors, Heat, Hawks, Celtics are still better.
Phil might be doing just fine.
This is a steal at this price. I’m surprised another team didn’t offer him anything longer/better.
Check the PPG. You mean never less?
Yep, thanks.