The Knicks are eligible to sign a 15th man to their roster as early as Friday, as we wrote here. Free agent forward T.J. Warren is among the players on the New York’s radar and he’s currently suiting up for their G League affiliate in Westchester.
Warren said he’s valuing getting game experience while working his way back to the league. As SNY’s Ian Begley writes, Warren scored a Westchester-record 47 points this season and is averaging 24.9 points on 35.7% shooting from three (8.4 attempts per game).
“It’s been a blessing,” Warren said in an interview with SNY. “I just wanted to get some reps and get in the flow of playing basketball again and just show health. It’s been great being out here, mentoring the guys, just kind of showing them my experiences and teaching them the right way and having fun with it. Take advantage of every day. No wasted days.”
Warren last played in the NBA last year when he caught on with the Timberwolves for 11 games toward the end of the season. Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau praised the route Warren is taking to try and get back to the league.
“I have a lot of respect for what he’s doing,” Thibodeau said. “He’s had a terrific year and he’s been great down there. For our young guys to watch somebody like that, who loves the game, great teammate and obviously he’s been terrific on the floor; I have a lot of respect for that.”
We have more from around the basketball world:
- Robert Baker II signed to ALBA Berlin, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews (Twitter link). Baker, the president of the G League’s Players Union, has turned down multiple NBA front office roles over the years, according to Urbonas. The Osceola Magic, with whom Baker had been playing, confirmed the news in a press release (Twitter link via the Orlando Sentinel’s Jason Beede).
- Cooper Flagg continues to prove why he’s the no-brainer No. 1 overall prospect in the 2025 draft, The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie writes in his latest big board. Dylan Harper (No. 2), Ace Bailey (No. 3), V.J. Edgecombe (No. 4) and Kasparas Jakucionis (No. 5) round out the rest of Vecenie’s top five. Outside of that, Vecenie takes a deeper dive into more under-the-radar guys, like Arizona’s Carter Bryant, San Diego State’s Miles Byrd and France’s Joan Beringer. I highly recommend checking out what Vecenie has to say about the rest of the class if you have a subscription to The Athletic, as his work is among the most in-depth regarding the draft.
- In another piece surrounding the draft, The Athletic’s John Hollinger isolates three players whose stock is moving. Hollinger agrees with Vecenie in that Bryant’s stock is rising, while Duke’s Khaman Maluach is stabilizing and Georgia’s Asa Newell is proving to be a bit more of a question mark. I’d also check this piece out, as Hollinger dives into whether Edgecombe can push Harper for the No. 2 slot and who he thinks the most undervalued player in the draft is.
- Former USA Basketball head coach Steve Kerr said he would be surprised if Magic forward Paolo Banchero isn’t on the Olympic team when it plays in Los Angeles in 2028, according to Andscape’s Marc J. Spears (Twitter link). Kerr went on to say that Banchero actually almost made the cut for the 2024 team, per Beede (Twitter link). “He was right in the mix [until] the last second for Paris,” Kerr said. “That’s how strongly we felt about him in the Philippines during the [FIBA] World Cup. He’s such a talented guy and versatile. … he was right in the mix and ultimately it just came down to roster construction, what we needed. We ended up deciding more on guard play than frontcourt.“