Knicks Sign John Jenkins To Two-Year Deal

FEBRUARY 21: After Jenkins’ 10-day deal expired overnight, the Knicks officially finalized his multiyear contract today, announcing the signing in a press release.

FEBRUARY 20: With John Jenkins‘ 10-day contract with the Knicks about to expire, the two sides have reached an agreement on a longer-term deal, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Charania, Jenkins will sign a two-year contract with New York.

Jenkins, who will turn 28 next month, has played some of the best basketball of his career in 2018/19. The former first-round pick spent most of the season with the Westchester Knicks, New York’s G League affiliate, averaging 24.8 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 3.6 APG with a .473/.431/.928 shooting line in 19 games.

That performance earned Jenkins a pair of 10-day contracts with the Wizards, though he played limited minutes in just four games with the team. He saw more action in two games with the Knicks, posting 10.5 PPG in 17.5 minutes per contest.

The exact terms of Jenkins’ new deal have yet to be reported, but it’s safe to assume it’ll be worth the minimum, and Marc Berman of The New York Post tweets that the 2019/20 salary will be non-guaranteed. The Knicks are being very cautious with how they use their cap room for next season, so it makes sense that Jenkins’ deal won’t cut into that room at all.

Berman does note that there will be an early trigger date, so New York will have to decide during the summer whether to retain or part ways with Jenkins.

Even after re-signing Jenkins, the Knicks will still have just 13 players on NBA contracts, so they’ll have to add at least one more player this week to get up to the league-mandated minimum of 14. It appears that player will be Henry Ellenson, who has reportedly agreed to a 10-day deal with the club.

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