Justin Brownlee

Knicks Notes: Leslie, Davis, D-League

After falling to the Bulls on a last second Carmelo Anthony miss, the Knicks look to avoid moving below .500 tomorrow when they face the Timberwolves in New York. As we look forward to Sunday night’s game, a few other newsworthy notes around the Knicks organization.

  • The Knicks began to fill out the roster of their D-League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks by adding among others, forwards C.J. Leslie and Justin Brownlee. The Knicks continue to show interest in Leslie who was a member of the Knicks training camp until they released him last week. The NBA allows for teams to retain the D-League rights of up to three camp invitees which is how the Knicks were able to add Leslie and Brownlee to the Erie roster.
  • Ian Begley of ESPN New York reports that another member of the BayHawks’ roster, a former NBA first-round pick and Erie’s sixth-round pick in Friday’s D-League draft, Ricky Davis had a “strong showing on defense” in a workout with the Knicks this summer. Davis will be trying to make his way back on to an NBA roster since the 2009/10 NBA season when he was a member of the Clippers.
  • Charles Barkley, who previously faulted Carmelo Anthony for starting the conversation about his pending free agency next summer, has now blamed the media for distracting the team.

Knicks Sign Chris Douglas-Roberts, Cut Brownlee

After officially announcing the signing of Justin Brownlee on Monday, the Knicks have already waived their 20th man, according to the team (Twitter link). In Brownlee's place, New York has signed Chris Douglas-Roberts to fill out the preseason roster.

Douglas-Roberts, 26, participated in camp with the Lakers and Mavs a year ago, and eventually appeared in a handful of regular season contests for Dallas. However, the 6'7" wing hasn't seen significant NBA minutes since he played for the Bucks in the 2010/11 season. As Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv notes (via Twitter), Douglas-Roberts becomes the latest in a long line of CAA clients to join the Knicks.

The Knicks' motives for cutting Brownlee so early in camp aren't entirely clear, though Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link) is hearing the St. John's product may have sustained an injury. In that case, it makes sense that the club would want to bring in a healthy body.

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Knicks Sign Justin Brownlee

MONDAY, 7:36pm: The Knicks have officially announced Brownlee's signing.

FRIDAY, 6:48pm: Zwerling clarifies that Brownlee has indeed accepted the camp invitation (Twitter link).

6:26pm: The Knicks have extended an invitation to small forward Justin Brownlee for their 20th and final preseason roster spot, tweets Bleacher Report's Jared Zwerling. The tweet seems to indicate that the 25-year-old former St. John's player has accepted the team's invitation, though that's not entirely clear. Brownlee was set to work out for the team as of last week.

Brownlee spent last season on the fringes of professional basketball with the San Diego Surf of the American Basketball Association, as our International Player Movement Tracker shows. He also has experience in the D-League and in Mexico. This is his first training camp invitation since he went undrafted in 2011, though he's been in summer league with the Knicks the past two years.

New York has only 12 players on fully guaranteed deals, but C.J. Leslie and Jeremy Tyler have partially guaranteed contracts. Cole AldrichIke DioguToure MurryJosh Powell, and Chris Smith are all presumably on non-guaranteed deals, as Brownlee likely will be, so there will be plenty of competition for the open spots on the regular season roster.

The Knicks have been linked to a slew of players over the summer, but it appears their offseason search for end-of-the-bench options is at an end.  DeSagana Diop, Hassan Whiteside and Ricky Davis are among the NBA veterans who were passed over.

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Odds & Ends: Nunnally, Kirilenko, Brownlee, Rocks

D-Leaguer James Nunnally's name has come up in connection with a handful of NBA teams of late, having drawn the attention of the Spurs, Jazz, Suns and Pelicans. The Grizzlies may be most intrigued by the 6'7" swingman out of UC-Santa Barbara, as they've invited him to camp, reports Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside. Still it doesn't sound like Nunnally has accepted that invitation yet, as he'll work as scheduled out this week for Utah and New Orleans. Here's more from this afternoon in the NBA:

  • An NBA investigation into Andrei Kirilenko's discount contract with the Nets has cleared the team of any wrongdoing, a source tells Fred Kerber of the New York Post. Complaints from at least one other team triggered the probe.
  • The Knicks are thinking of inviting small forward Justin Brownlee to camp after watching him play for their summer league squad this year. The 25-year-old from St. John's will work out for the team this week, tweets Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com. 
  • Agent Burton Rocks tells Hoops Rumors that the players union has certified him and his Burton Rocks LTD firm, which boasts a dozen baseball clients, as the MLB Trade Rumors Agency Database shows. Rocks is breaking into hoops by repping former Stony Brook standout Muhammed El-Amin.
  • Villanova assistant coach Billy Lange has turned down the Rockets' offer to become the head coach of their D-League affiliate, but he's considering a job with the Sixers, reports Dana O'Neil of ESPN.com.
  • The Grizzlies traded for Kosta Koufos this summer, and they've coveted the former Nuggets big man for more than a year, as TNT's David Aldridge writes as he hits on a wide range of subjects for his weekly NBA.com column. 
  • Forbes today published its list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, and Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen leads all sports owners in net worth, notes Darren Rovell of ESPN.com.
  • John Schuhmann of NBA.com examines some of the data teams will be able to use under the league's new SportVU camera deal.