5:25pm: Begley is now reporting that Vonleh signed a one-year, partially guaranteed deal (via Twitter).
3:16pm: The Knicks have officially issued a press release announcing their deal with Vonleh.
2:54pm: The Knicks are making another addition to their roster, according to Ian Begley of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that the team has reached an agreement to sign free agent forward Noah Vonleh.
The ninth overall pick in the 2014 draft, Vonleh has appeared in 231 games (113 starts) during his first four NBA seasons, but hasn’t developed into the kind of impact player that the Hornets were hoping for when they used a lottery pick to nab him.
The former Indiana standout has been traded twice since entering the league, having been sent from Charlotte to Portland to Chicago. The Bulls didn’t tender him a qualifying offer earlier this summer, so he entered the open market on July 1 as an unrestricted free agent.
In 54 total games last season for the Trail Blazers and Bulls, Vonleh averaged 4.9 PPG and 5.8 RPG in 16.2 minutes per contest.
The addition of Vonleh is an interesting one for the Knicks, who already have 14 guaranteed salaries – plus Trey Burke‘s non-guaranteed deal – on their books for 2018/19. Burke played well down the stretch for New York last season and is unlikely to be waived, so players like Joakim Noah and Ron Baker appear to be release candidates unless the club trades someone else before the regular season begins.
While a minimum-salary deal seems likely for Vonleh, the Knicks do have their bi-annual exception available to make a slightly more lucrative offer if necessary.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The decision of when and how (stretch or not) to release Noah is an important one to the franchise. It’s not going to be determined by this signing. I’m pretty sure of that even with the Knicks.
The Knicks are building an impressive roster with lots of athletes.
Glad you are back! Kinda missed you tbh
hahahaha
Welcome back Dionis! We missed you… are you ok?
Of course, I was on vacation.
Anywhere nice?
Spain
Scouting for the Knicks I assume…?
Hope you had a good time! Welcome back
wow Lebron to LA and Vonleh to my NY Knicks
Low risk, good move
Knicks locking up that top pick.
Back end Bench player. Knickers have some injuries to deal with and he’ll get early on minutes.