FEBRUARY 21: After Jenkins’ 10-day deal expired overnight, the Knicks officially finalized his multiyear contract today, announcing the signing in a press release.
FEBRUARY 20: With John Jenkins‘ 10-day contract with the Knicks about to expire, the two sides have reached an agreement on a longer-term deal, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Charania, Jenkins will sign a two-year contract with New York.
Jenkins, who will turn 28 next month, has played some of the best basketball of his career in 2018/19. The former first-round pick spent most of the season with the Westchester Knicks, New York’s G League affiliate, averaging 24.8 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 3.6 APG with a .473/.431/.928 shooting line in 19 games.
That performance earned Jenkins a pair of 10-day contracts with the Wizards, though he played limited minutes in just four games with the team. He saw more action in two games with the Knicks, posting 10.5 PPG in 17.5 minutes per contest.
The exact terms of Jenkins’ new deal have yet to be reported, but it’s safe to assume it’ll be worth the minimum, and Marc Berman of The New York Post tweets that the 2019/20 salary will be non-guaranteed. The Knicks are being very cautious with how they use their cap room for next season, so it makes sense that Jenkins’ deal won’t cut into that room at all.
Berman does note that there will be an early trigger date, so New York will have to decide during the summer whether to retain or part ways with Jenkins.
Even after re-signing Jenkins, the Knicks will still have just 13 players on NBA contracts, so they’ll have to add at least one more player this week to get up to the league-mandated minimum of 14. It appears that player will be Henry Ellenson, who has reportedly agreed to a 10-day deal with the club.
At least the Knicks FO has learned how to negotiate and structure 1 year minimum deals. Had they learned sooner, they would have options at minimum for Vonleh and Trier next year as well.
Trier wanted a guaranteed deal. Vonlehs deal was non guaranteed, he could have been cut early in the season if he didn’t play well. That’s the risk teams take on those types of deals
Non-guaranteed preseason camp contracts (if they don’t have a 2nd year option if the guy makes the team) are converted to a 1/1 contract if (as a condition to) the guy making the team. It’s not important what Trier wanted (or at least it wasn’t out of preseason camp). 2 way players are converted on a 1/1 or 1/2, at minimum, because it’s a condition to them getting major role on the team. It’s not just a matter of how much you end up paying a guy, but whether you’ll need cap space (vs EBRs) to have any opportunity to bring him back at all. This is essential if you’re investing development time and finite minutes in a guy, and claiming to be in a development phase.
I have no clue what the Knicks are building. They have upwards of 74 million in cap space but they want to sign Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving? So what happens to Dennis Smith Jr? What’s he sliding down to the 2?
The Knicks main priority should be the development of Knox and Robinson, if you do not get the number 1 pick and you draft Barrett or Reddish what do they do with the cap space? Durant might sign anywhere but New York.