Ian Begley, SNY.tv | Twitter |
The Knicks and Reggie Bullock have finally reached a deal after a medical issue led to a snag, with the free agent signing a two-year pact for less than the $4.7 million exception, his agent David Bauman told SNY's Ian Begley.
Bullock's deal with the Knicks is structured similarly to their other two-year agreements, per SNY sources: it isn't fully guaranteed in the second year, which essentially makes it a team option.
SNY sources confirm that the Bullock deal is for $8.2 million in total, confirming an ESPN report.
There is no specific timetable for Bullock to be on the court at the moment. But, per SNY sources, Bullock is expected to miss at least a month of the regular season due to his ailment.
It was initially reported that Bullock had agreed to a two-year, $21 million deal with New York. However, that changed when the medical issue hampered the original agreement. But mutual interest between the Knicks and Bullock remained in the wake of the medical issue.
"(The) Knicks were fantastic through this process," Bauman told Begley.
The medical issue that caused the hiccup is unclear, but Bullock has dealt with plantar fasciitis in the past.
The restructuring of Bullock's deal gave the Knicks more cap space to work with. It was spent on another NBA veteran in Marcus Morris, who backed out of his deal with the Spurs to officially sign a one-year, $15 million contract to play at The Garden next season. It's not unheard of for a player to renege on a verbal agreement during free agency, but this situation is complex because San Antonio traded forward Davis Bertans to Washington and re-worked an agreement with DeMarre Carroll to sign Morris.
The Knicks see Morris as a strong influence on their younger core, which includes RJ Barrett, Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinson, and Allonzo Trier.
"With Reggie & Marcus we are adding two more versatile, hard-nosed & accomplished players to an already improved roster," Knicks GM Scott Perry said in a statement. "We value both players' perimeter shooting and their strong presence on the court and in the locker room. We're excited to have them in New York and are confident they will excel playing for this team under Coach (David) Fizdale."
Done Deal!
- Reggie Bullock (@ReggieBullock35) July 16, 2019
Playing with the Lakers and Pistons last season, Bullock averaged 11.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.0 assists over 29.8 minutes on the floor. Morris averaged 13.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists over 27.9 minutes in 75 games for the Celtics last season.
After missing out on Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, and Kyrie Irving, the Knicks used their $70 million in cap space on Morris, Julius Randle, Taj Gibson, Elfrid Payton, Wayne Ellington, and Bobby Portis.
The signings indicate that the Knicks expect to compete this next season, rather than being comfortable with another 17-win season. It will be interesting to see how Fizdale delineates minutes and shots among the young players and veterans. Growing the young players will be a priority for the Knicks, but you can be sure that most of the free-agent signees came to New York with the expectation that they'd be part of the regular rotation.
Outside of Randle, all of the Knicks' free agents are signed to two-year contracts that are partially guaranteed for the second season. So New York could have cap flexibility in the 2020 offseason and beyond.
New York also reached the maximum of 15 players on guaranteed contracts for next season. The Knicks also have two players under two-way contracts (Kadeem Allen and Kris Wilkes). So New York would need to cut or trade a player if the club wanted to add someone on a traditional NBA deal. The Knicks still have a portion of their exception left if they want to sign a player or convert one of their two-way players -- or they could use the veteran's exception to sign a player.