Knicks Ink Lance Thomas For Rest Of Season

SATURDAY, 9:23am: The Knicks have signed Thomas for the remainder of the season, the team has announced.

1:10pm: The deal only covers the rest of this season, a league source tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter links).

THURSDAY, 9:49am: The Knicks will re-sign combo forward Lance Thomas to a contract that covers the rest of the season when his second 10-day contract with the team expires at the end of Friday, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Such rest-of-season deals often carry an additional year with non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed salary, as is the case with New York’s latest arrangement with Langston Galloway, but Begley doesn’t indicate whether Thomas’ new contract will extend any longer than this season. The Knicks are limited to giving out the minimum salary.

Knicks coach Derek Fisher publicly lobbied Wednesday for new deals for Thomas as well as fellow 10-day signee Lou Amundson, who’s started the last five games for the Knicks and whose second 10-day contract with New York expires tonight. Thomas, a John Spencer client, has also played a significant role in six appearances with New York, averaging 11.0 points and 4.8 rebounds in 25.8 minutes per game. He’s at a career high 21.6 MPG for the season, having made 13 starts for the injury-plagued Thunder at the beginning of the year before Oklahoma City sent him to New York in a three-team trade earlier this month.

New York waived Thomas shortly after the trade to avoid guaranteeing his minimum-salary contract for the season, but it seems that the Knicks have since warmed to the idea. A new deal for Thomas would give the Knicks 14 players signed through season’s end.

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