Knicks sign Allonzo Trier to two-year deal, waive Ron Baker
By ADAM ZAGORIA The Knicks have signed undrafted
By ADAM ZAGORIA The Knicks have signed undrafted
GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet both went undrafted in the NBA Draft last June.
Now the two former Wichita State teammates will both be on opening-night NBA rosters — Baker with the Knicks and VanVleet with the Raptors. Each earned the 15th and final roster spot on his respective team. The NBA’s rookie salary is $543,471.
“Oh yeah, we talked to one another,” Baker told me Monday ahead of the Knicks’ season-opener Tuesday night in Cleveland against LeBron James and the Cavaliers. “A lot of critics didn’t think we could do this. It goes to show Coach [Gregg] Marshall runs a really good program and a lot of things that he taught us has carried over to this league and how we work and how hard we play.”
GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said the team opted to keep former Wichita State standout Ron Baker over former Stanford guard Chasson Randle, who is out a month with an orbital bone fracture.
The Knicks ate $100,000 of guaranteed money to Randle, but sound like they hope he will remain with the Westchester Knicks D-League team. Still, Randle is a free agent and could opt to play for another team if he’s signed, or play overseas.
“Well, we liked those guys we had to waive,” Hornacek said Saturday. “It’s a tough thing to do. All these guys are capable players. We have to look at our roster and see the different balance that we have. Chasson, he’s done a great job for us. We hope all these guys get other jobs and other teams pick them up, but our hope is if he doesn’t go to another team he stays with our organization. We really liked what he did for us. “
WEST POINT, N.Y. — When Ron Baker first signed with the Knicks this summer, he was hoping to pair up with his former Wichita State teammate Cleanthony Early, the team’s second-round draft pick in 2014.
“We played two years together at Wichita State,” Baker told me Thursday at Knicks training camp at West Point. “At first we thought we both were going to be here.”
But after Early was shot in the right leg during an attack in Queens last December, the Knicks did not bring him into training camp this year and he is currently out of the NBA.
“We were a little disapppointed that he’s not here,” Baker said. “I saw him a couple weeks ago playing pickup in the city but I’m not sure on his status.”
