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The New York Knicks announced five of their six big free agent acquisitions today, leaving everyone to ask what the heck was going on with Reggie Bullock. Did something happen with his physical?
Yes, as it turns out, something did happen. The Knicks are now working with Bullock’s agent, David Bauman, to lower the terms of the two-year$20 million contract they had agreed upon, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, with the Knicks, “...re-evaluating Bullock’s fitness to play a full season in 2019-20.”
Wow, this could be an awkward situation. Fortunately, however, everything seems to be above board, with Bauman going out of his way to praise the organization in Yiddish terms.
Agent David Bauman tells The Post “we are working toward a deal”, Knicks won’t back out from Bullock and calls Steve Mills and Scott Perry “mensches.”
— Marc Berman (@NYPost_Berman) July 9, 2019
This move would give the the Knicks some more cap space, and with one roster spot remaining, they are looking to use it on a fairly big way, pursuing power forward Marcus Morris, who had already agreed to sign with the Spurs.
Reporting with @MarcJSpearsESPN: Free agent Marcus Morris -- who committed to a two-year, $20M Spurs deal w/ player option -- is re-considering agreement. Morris is now considering a free agent deal with Knicks, who'll have additional cap space with reworking of Bullock deal.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 9, 2019
This is pretty wild stuff, as the Spurs traded David Bertans and re-worked DeMarre Carroll’s deal to make room to sign Morris. But the Knicks could offer him $5 million more up front, and that’s nothing to sneeze at.
Where would this leave the Knicks? I thought Bullock had a chance to start for them at shooting guard, depending on how serious the organization is about being competitive right out of the gate. Would Fizdale play RJ Barrett at the 2, as they have tried in Summer League? Does this give incumbent Damyean Dotson the opportunity to retake the starting spot? Could Wayne Ellington or even Frank Ntilikina be in the mix for more minutes? And what to make of the Morris deal? He averaged 27.9 minutes per game last season for a superior Boston Celtics team, so he’s going to play. But the team already signed Julius Randle, Taj Gibson and Bobby Portis, who also play the 4. Does this mean The Phenom, Ignas Brazdeikis, will be stuck in Westchester?
Stay tuned!