2:41pm: The Knicks have officially signed Allen to a two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release.
9:24am: The Knicks will fill their open two-way slot in advance of Tuesday’s deadline by signing G League guard Kadeem Allen, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). New York started the season with Isaiah Hicks and Allonzo Trier on two-way deals, but promoted Trier to its 15-man roster last month.
Allen, who will turn 26 tomorrow, began his NBA career as a second-round draft pick for the Celtics in 2017. As a rookie, the former Arizona standout appeared in just 18 games (5.9 MPG) for Boston while on a two-way deal. He was waived in July and caught on with the Knicks for training camp, but didn’t make the club’s regular season roster.
After being released by New York in October, Allen headed to the team’s G League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks, averaging 13.7 PPG, 5.6 APG, and 5.2 RPG with a .470/.386/.822 shooting line in 25 games (30.8 MPG) for the club.
The Knicks had been one of just four NBA teams with two-way contract slots open — the Trail Blazers (both spots), Bucks, and Pelicans are the others. Tuesday is the deadline for teams to sign two-way contracts for the 2018/19 season, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Portland, Milwaukee, and New Orleans makes moves today or tomorrow. There may also be another small group of teams who make changes to their two-way slots, perhaps promoting certain players to standard contracts.
He is a really good defender, so if he has shown anything offensively, I’m not surprised to see him get another look