Knicks Waive Patrick Ewing Jr., Keep Shawne Williams For Final Roster Spot

The Knicks made Patrick Ewing Jr. their final roster cut for the second time in three seasons, reports Steve Adamek of the Bergen Record. The 26-year-old lost out to fellow small forward Shawne Williams because, Adamek says, Williams is a better shooter:

“It was very close,” [Donnie] Walsh said. “Patrick, I thought, was a very good defender, played hard ... but Shawne is a shooter and with Mike [D'Antoni]’s system, shooting’s going to be a big factor.”

In four preseason games, Ewing Jr. averaged 1.8 points and 0.5 rebounds in 6 minutes. Williams, two years younger than Ewing Jr., posted averages of 3 points and 2.3 rebounds in 4.8 minutes.

Adamek says Ewing Jr., who has never played a regular-season game at the NBA level, will not give up on his career.

Knicks Not Expected To Bring Back D-League Signee Earl Barron

The New York Knicks have made quite a few changes to their roster during the offseason, but it was always kind of expected that late-season sensation Earl Barron would be back in New York after playing quite well during his seven-game stint with the team.

That doesn’t seem to be the case, however, according to Newsday’s Alan Hahn.

With Curry, Ronny Turiaf and Russian rookie Timofey Mozgov on the depth chart at center, the Knicks aren’t in the market for yet another big man. The discovery (and signing) of Mozgov effectively ended Barron’s chances of a return, even after rookie Jerome Jordan opted to go to Serbia rather than come to camp this year.

The Knicks initially tried to sign Barron at the end of the 09-10 season, when he averaged 11.7 points and 11 rebounds in 33.1 minutes per game in the final two weeks of the season. He was offered a non-guaranteed contract for 10-11 and turned it down, mainly because he was hoping to get something more secure – perhaps even from the Knicks – during the offseason.

So what’s next for Barron if not the Knicks? Only time will tell, apparently.

“We are having discussions with several teams regarding Earl,” Barron’s agent, Mark Termini, said when we spoke today.

With One Roster Spot Open, Knicks Look To Invite Two More Players To Camp

Mark Berman of the New York Post reports that the recently-signed Patrick Ewing Jr. will likely have to beat out two other training-camp invitees for the Knicks’ final roster spot:

[Ewing Jr.] is hardly a lock to make the team, but showed flashes during the Las Vegas summer league as he bounces back from knee surgery.

Ewing was cut after training camp in 2008. The Knicks have one open roster spot and plan to sign at least two more candidates, possibly including guard Maurice Ager.

Ager indeed seems like a potential candidate; I first reported the Knicks’ interest in him 10 days ago, though my source said talks between the Knicks and Ager “calmed” after the Ewing Jr. signing. We’ll see how it all shakes out soon enough.

Knicks Sign Patrick Ewing Jr. To Partially Guaranteed Contract

The New York Knicks added another player to their roster today when they announced the signing of forward Patrick Ewing Jr., the son of Knicks Hall-of-Fame center Patrick Ewing. Howard Beck of the New York Times reports that Ewing Jr.‘s deal is partially guaranteed, meaning, "he’s likely competing for roster spot in October."

New York initially acquired Ewing Jr.‘s draft rights from the Houston Rockets in August 2008, but did not add him to the big-league club; indeed, Ewing has never played a game at the NBA level. He played the 2008/09 season for the D-League’s Reno Bighorns, averaging 16.8 points per game, but missed last season due to injury.

Most recently, he played for the Knicks’ summer-league squad in Las Vegas and for the Orlando Magic’s club, which his father coached, in the Orlando summer league. NBA.com has listed his complete summer-league stats with both teams here. Note that he was selected as an honorable mention to the Orlando All-Summer League teams.

Ewing Jr., 26, is an athletic, 6-foot-8 player who can fill either forward position. If he makes the final roster, he would be a solid fit in coach Mike D’Antoni’s uptempo offense due to his ability to fill the lanes in transition. However, his iffy outside shot could work against him in a halfcourt setting.

Fields' Deal With Knicks Includes $500,000 Guaranteed

Alan Hahn of Newsday fills in the earlier blanks regarding the contract details of Landry Fields, the 39th pick in this year’s draft whom the Knicks just signed. According to Hahn, the contract is for two years, with the first year guaranteed at $500,000.

Hahn also notes that Fields’ signing brings the Knicks’ roster to 14 players, just one shy of the league-mandated maximum.

Landry Fields Signs WIth Knicks, Says Landry Fields

Second-round draft pick Landry Fields, whom the Knicks took 39th overall in June, has signed with the Knicks. This news comes directly from an elated Fields, who posted the following message to his Twitter account earlier this afternoon:

No word on what sorts of guarantees, if any, Fields’ deal has. As Fields is a second-round pick, the Knicks are under no obligation to guarantee his salary. We’ll update this StoryStream if and when we learn any more on that front.

Knicks Announce Signing Of Draft Pick Andy Rautins

The New Yorks Knicks announced the signing of second round draft pick Andy Rautins today.

The full release:

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that the team has signed guard Andy Rautins, the 38th overall selection in the 2010 NBA Draft, to a player contract. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Rautins, 6-4, 194-pounds, played four seasons at Syracuse University and averaged 12.1 points and 4.9 assists as a senior in 2009-10. He finished his collegiate career ranked second on the school’s all-time list for three-point field goals made (282) and attempted (754). He also became the 53rd Syracuse player to score at least 1,000 career points (1,121). In 2010 NBA Summer League play in Las Vegas, Rautins averaged 5.8 points, 1.4 assists and 23.9 minutes in five games as a member of the Knicks entry.

Does Knicks' Decision Not To Buy First-Round Pick Mean Earl Barron Will Return?

ESPN’s Chris Sheridan came away from the Knicks’ draft-night haul surprised that they did not buy a first-round draft pick, and wonders if the decision is related to a desire to keep Earl Barron, a 7-foot center who averaged 11.7 points and 11 rebounds in 7 games with the team, which could desperately use his size. “The Knicks should have $2-3 million in leftover cap room, even if they sign two max free agents at starting salaries of $16.5 million,” Sheridan says, which leads him to believe that GM Donnie Walsh may have “earmarked” that extra money “for Barron.”

If Barron returns, expect Seth from Posting And Toasting, SB Nation’s Knicks blog, to be quite happy.

Draft Graders Bash The Knicks' Picks

The Knicks used their only two draft picks this year, at Nos. 38 and 39 overall, on shooting guards Andy Rautins and Landry Fields. And while wing depth is certainly an issue for the Knicks, nobody anywhere has any idea what they were thinking with those selections. Just check out some of the draft grades and commentary the analysts are dishing today.

From Tom Ziller of NBA FanHouse:

The Knicks spent back-to-back second round picks on Andy Rautins and Landry Fields. Yep. Final Grade: F. Stop sleeping during class.

From Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo! Sports:

If they feel like a punchline, it's because they probably are. You might get LeBron in a month, New York, and your team is definitely moving in the right direction. But these two? Come on.

Grade - F

From Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk:

Got a couple guys who can shoot the rock in that round (Andy Rautins of Syracuse has amazing range) but need bigger talent than that and they didn't get it. Grade: D

Indeed, had these draft experts adhered to the old adage about not saying anything at all if you don't have anything nice to say, there would be considerably fewer draft capsules about the Knicks today.

Breaking Down the Knicks Draft

There was a lot of speculation about the Knicks trading up into the first round. If you look at the objectives the Knicks have right now, that doesn’t make sense.

Some people argue that the 31st-40th picks in the draft are the most valuable besides the top few, from a GM standpoint. While first-rounders have better players available, those early second-round slots provide similar talent, but don’t come with any salary cap restrictions. Draft a player with the 30th pick, you’re committed to paying that guy over $1 million for at least two years. Draft a player with the 31st pick, you’re drafting almost the exact same caliber of player and can do whatever you please with him. You can sign him, you can not sign him, you can give him an unguaranteed contract for as little as $500,000 a year.

For a team like the Knicks on a cost-cutting mission, that’s perfect. The Knicks have no financial obligation to Andy Rautins, Landry Fields, or Jerome Jordan, meaning they can keep their cap clear until after whoever signs in the Freeagentpocalypse this summer.

As for the players themselves, the Knicks understandably caught flak for drafting two guys that weren’t even on many draft boards in Rautins and Fields. I believe the most important thing about the draft is maximizing value, and the Knicks certainly didn’t do that: even if these two guys are great players, they could have signed them as undrafted free agents most likely, or even let another team draft them and buy the pick, as they did with Jordan. Instead, they wasted their two picks on players they could’ve gotten later.

But I get it if the team is really high on these two guys. Rautins is a legit shooter who can play defense, and New Yorkers will be semi-familiar with him from his days at Syracuse, which Syracuse pretends is New York’s college team, but nobody really cares about in the grand scheme of things. Fields’ selection caught a lot of people off guard – Chad Ford twat about how it was the first time in years that somebody had taken a player he didn’t consider to be in the top 100 – but I’ve seen him play two years running, and I like his game. Northwestern – where I go to school – had a home-and-home these last two years with Stanford, and Fields was far and away the best player on their squad. Even though opposing defenses focused on him, he used his athleticism to score, and dunk in horrific fashion on Northwestern’s big men. (can’t find the video, sadly.) Admittedly, he does seem like the player who is able to do that in college but won’t be able to against legit NBA athletes, but, I don’t think this pick needed the sound bashing it got.

As for Jordan, he’s still not officially a Knick. But I really like the guy – a seven-footer from Jamaica has my support any day. Like Fields, I saw him play in college. Not a polished big man, but a big, big, big man. He has size and athleticism going for him. You can’t ask for much more out of a pick you got for nothing more than cash considerations.

Jerome Jordan Likely A Knick, Too

Nothing’s official yet, but pretty much everybody seems to believe that New York capped off their draft last night by acquiring Jerome Jordan, who the Bucks selected with the 44th pick.

Via Chris Sheridan’s twitter:

Knicks have deal with Bucks to acquire rights to 44th pick, C Jerome Jordan of Tulsa. Trade hinges on C.Maggette passing physical Monday.

Apparently it’s just a straight sale, with the Knicks giving up cash considerations for the former Golden Hurricane … player. Or whatever the singular of a person who plays for Tulsa is.

Knicks Take Landry Fields At No. 39

The Knicks went with Landry Fields, the forward from Stanford who hadn’t received much hype from Knicks camp in the days leading up to the draft.

The senior scorer looks like he’ll be the last acquisition for the Knicks on the night despite a lot of talk about New York wanting to move up into the first round.

Knicks Choose Syracuse's Andy Rautins At No. 38

The Knicks opted not to trade up, and went with the home state boy, Andy Rautins from Syracuse, with their first of two back-to-back picks in the second round.

Rautins is a 6-foot-5 gunner, a senior out of Syracuse, who probably went a little bit higher than some might have expected.

Knicks Seemingly Content To Sit On Second Round Picks

About 20 picks in, it looks more and more like the Knicks will be waiting for their second round picks to come up without worrying about trading up.

via Alan Hahn’s twitter:

So far still very quiet around Knicks. Memphis’ 28th is for sale. Washington also selling. Right now seems Knicks will hold at 38.

More updates as the Knicks’ situation becomes more apparent.

Knicks Still Working To Get First Round Selection

The New York Daily News says deal with Minnesota for 23rd pick is possible, if the price drops.

Knicks Have Options, Even Without First-Round Pick

Lots of rumors flying about what the New York Knicks will do in tonight’s NBA Draft, particularly how they might try to get into the first round.

- The NY Post has New Mexico forward Darrington Hobson high on the Knicks board.
- The Daily News speculateson how the Knicks could get into the first round.
- The Post also says German center Tibor Pleiss could be a Knick target.

Report: Knicks Targeting Armon Johnson

Earlier we noted that the Knicks were looking to move into the first round of the draft.

The New York Post’s Marc Berman is reporting that the Knicks may be targeting a point guard from Nevada.

The Knicks are looking at trading up for University of Nevada point guard Armon Johnson in a move that could eat up precious salary-cap space but give them a much-needed floor general, a source debriefed on team discussions told The Post.

For months, team president Donnie Walsh has considered trading up late into the first round for a player the Knicks really like, one they project as a rotation player next season.

The issue wasn’t the roughly $2 million it will cost to buy a first-rounder, but eating up the $1 million salary from their precious $34 million cap space.

SB Nation’s Posting and Toasting has also been following the other hot Knicks-related draft rumor: That the team is trying to trade for Portland Trail Blazers guard Rudy Fernandez.

HoopsWorld Lays Out A Plan For The Knicks

Without a first-round pick, the Knicks will have to be creative Thursday night in the NBA Draft.

Fortunately for New York, this draft – although it does not feature a plethora of future hall-of-famers – it is loaded with talented players that will likely settle in as quality role players in the NBA. This draft is considered by many to be one of the deepest overall drafts, from top to bottom, in recent NBA history. Consequently, the Knicks could walk away with some real promising talent if things fall the right way Thursday night. For instance, remember that in last year’s draft the San Antonio Spurs snagged rugged power forward DeJuan Blair with the 37th overall pick. The Pistons then took fellow All-Rookie second-team performer Jonas Jerebko two picks later (39th). Marcus Thornton, originally drafted by Miami and then traded to New Orleans, was selected 43rd overall, and went on to average 14.5 PPG. In 2008, Goran Dragic, Mario Chalmers, Luc-Richard Mbah a Mute, and Chris Douglas-Roberts all dropped into Round Two.

NBA Draft: New York Knicks Don't Have First-Round Pick

The New York Knicks don't have a first-round pick in Thursday's NBA Draft. SB Nation's Posting and Toasting says the Knicks are trying mightily to find a way into the first round, however. 

The Knicks seem to like Maryland guard Greivis Vasquez, but they will have to get into the first round to get him.

We will keep you updated on the rumors and activity as the draft approaches.