4:57pm: The signing of Jeffries to a two-way deal is official, the team announced in a tweet.
3:14pm: The Knicks have waived forward Feron Hunt, the team announced today (via Twitter). Hunt had been on a two-way contract with the team.
New York will fill its newly opened two-way contract slot by signing free agent wing DaQuan Jeffries, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Hunt signed a two-way deal with the Knicks last March and appeared in two games for the club down the stretch. Because his contract included a second year, he continued to occupy one of New York’s two-way spots into 2022/23, though he had yet to see any playing time at the NBA level this season.
In eight G League games (34.5 MPG) for the Westchester Knicks this fall, Hunt filled up the box score with 16.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.6 blocks per contest. He made 53.8% of his field goal attempts, albeit just 28.6% of his three-pointers and 63.6% of his free throws.
Jeffries, who was in training camp with the Knicks this fall, has also been a mainstay in the Westchester lineup in the early part of the NBAGL season, averaging 14.6 PPG and 4.2 RPG in five appearances (30.2 MPG). Like Hunt, he has made more than half his shots from the floor (50.8%), but has been less efficient from beyond the arc (21.4%) and at the foul line (60.0%).
Jeffries, 25, has appeared in a total of 47 NBA games for Sacramento, Houston, and Memphis since going undrafted out of Tulsa in 2019. He has also represented Team USA in several qualifying games for the 2023 World Cup.
Assuming he signs within the next couple days, Jeffries will be eligible to appear in up to 38 regular season games for the Knicks as a two-way player. That’s a prorated portion of the 50 games that players on full-season two-way deals can play.
Hunt, meanwhile, will become an unrestricted NBA free agent if he clears waivers on Thursday. Westchester would still hold his G League rights if he chooses to remain with the team.
I personally like both of these guys, and also for their roster, and thought both could be useful for them as depth on the wing and in Hunt’s case, at the 4.
They have so many guards. Might make sense to let go of someone like arcidiacono
I was surprised Jeffries didn’t end up somewhere else, with so many teams that could use wing help, but he isnt the only player like that who should be in the league
Jeffries is a little more ready than Hunt I think. Also NY will probably have a slight need for Jeffries at some point. (Injuries) Hunt was pretty deep in the rotation at the 3 or 4. Doesn’t have the chops or size to help much with PF/C to give Robinson or Hartenstein a night off. Definitely isn’t playing in front of Toppin or Randle. For a depth signing DaQuan makes some sense. Barrett & Reddish are the only guys playing the 3, so a little insurance isn’t a bad idea.
For sure Jeffries makes more sense for them. I’m just saying I liked Hunt as depth at the 4 defensively, which is an area I think they lack. I personally feel that I look at Randle and Toppin as smallball 5s on this roster, and theyd be more effective in that role, except for times when you have Hartenstein next to Randle
The thing is, I still hold a little discontent for how they decided to build this roster, and I’ve felt like the things I said have kind of come to fruition pretty early. I wasnt/am not a fan of how they use their rotation, and I think the issues I’ve talked about are creeping up, and we’ve seen a slight shift towards changing it up a bit closer to what I was talking about
I personally would have liked for them to use their young guards, and use their money on wing help/depth at the 4/finding amy possible ways to get off Fournier without using too many assets, instead of at guard, as they did. With that being said, I did still like the fit of Brunson with Barrett and Randle, but I wasn’t sure that starting all of them necessarily is best for the full rotation, and I’m also not a big fan of Randle and Robinson together as starters
I feel ya’. The Mitchell possible signing would’ve corrected many rotation issues. Barrett would definitely be starting at the 3, and small ball Randle, Toppin would have been a definite option. Reddish playing the 4 with Randle at the 5 is quite a sight! Mitchell adding all that scoring would have been what every knicks fan has been waiting on for 2 seasons. Can’t say I blame NY for not dealing for Mitchell. They had nowhere near the same war chest the Cavs were working with. Would have been hard to build-out cap strapped, and draft pick depleted.
I wouldnt have traded for him either…
I Like Hunt. He definitely got skills.
DaQuan is athletic, grabs lots of rebounds for a SG. I doubt he plays that much, but I liked him in Sacramento.
Can anyone explain why DaQuan’s 50 days of NBA service is prorated down to 38 games?
His contract covers 132 days of the 174-day season, so he gets 132/174ths of the usual 50-game limit. That works out to 37.9ish, which gets rounded up to 38.
That rule is in place so that a team can’t just sign a new two-way player after 32 games and have him available for the rest of the season.
Thanks for explaining it to me