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Another day, another young(ish) free agent flier for the Scott Perry and Steve Mills braintrust.
Today, the Knicks made BIG waves by signing away second-year player Kadeem Allen from the Celtics:
The New York Knicks and free agent guard Kadeem Allen have agreed to a deal, a league source told The Athletic.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) July 25, 2018
While terms were not disclosed, those that are in the know figure that this is a training camp tryout:
Knicks announce that they've signed guard Kadeem Allen. Kadeem Allen. Allen, who split last season between Boston and its G League affiliate, is likely on a training camp deal.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) July 25, 2018
Importantly, the Knicks now only have one more spot left to carry into training camp, barring any trades or cuts.
With Kadeem Allen on the roster, the Knicks now have 19 players under contract (including two on 2-way deals). They can add one more player for training camp/preseason before reaching the NBA limit. They can have 15 players on NBA contracts and two 2-way players during the season
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) July 25, 2018
Coincidentally, the Knicks have one last card to potentially play this offseason: the bi-annual exception, worth about $3 million.
So what's the deal with Kadeem Allen? Well, as touched on above, he was drafted 53rd overall by the Celtics last year and cut 10 days ago. He spent most of his time with the Maine Red Claws (the Celts' G-League affiliate), where he averaged 17.7 points, 4.9 assists, 5.9 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game in 34.5 minutes per game. He only got 107 minutes of run in 18 games with the Celtics last year, so his NBA stats are barely worth looking at (but, for what it's worth: not great).
Allen stands 6-foot-3 with a 6-foot-9 wingspan, and based off my extremely limited research on him, it seems like his best-case scenario would be ending up as a Patrick Beverley-esque stopper on defense. It should also be noted that he's already 26 years old, since he transferred to the University of Arizona after playing two years in junior college, and then took a redshirt year with the Wildcats on top of that. Chances are, he's a camp body and potentially a future Westchester Knick.
Either way, the Knicks stuck to their guns once again, picking up a player that's athletic and long for his position. It should be a fun training camp and preseason, to say the least!