The Jazz, Bucks, and Warriors are among the teams expected to show interest in Damyean Dotson when he becomes a free agent this offseason, sources tell Marc Berman of The New York Post.
Dotson, who will turn 26 in May, has spent his first three NBA seasons with the Knicks, appearing in 165 games and averaging 7.8 PPG on .419/.361/.721 shooting in 20.1 minutes per contest. Because he only has three years of experience, he can be made a restricted free agent at season’s end if the Knicks give him a qualifying offer worth just over $2MM.
However, as Berman notes, it’s unclear whether New York will make an effort to re-sign Dotson to a new deal. The new management group isn’t the one that drafted him, and he had fallen out of the rotation prior to the NBA’s hiatus, appearing in just one of the Knicks’ last nine games.
“That seemed (to be) the writing on the wall,” one NBA scout told Berman. “You’d think they’d be still trying to develop him.”
Former Knicks head coach David Fizdale, who lauded Dotson’s “work ethic, leadership qualities, and toughness,” also praised the youngster’s willingness to be coached and expressed to Berman that the 6’5″ wing has a promising NBA future.
“He’s a game shooter and improved his handle and as a finisher,” Fizdale said. “He’s a good rebounding guard, but he still has to improve defensive awareness on the weak side. Overall he’s a solid NBA player.”
Knicks don’t offer him a contract another failure on their part. So what he wasn’t drafted by them. $2 million and they could trade him for something.
No improvement & less physicality compared to last year is not good; they may have given up on him. Knicks also have Bullock & Barrett there for LT plans, and 3 PGs with some backing. Trier & Kadeem Allen also got reduced PT. Trier is the mystery since he improved all-around.
Trier and Dotson should stay but I’m thinking they both want to leave and get as far away from MSG as possible. ASAP!!!
Dotson was drafted as an almost a finished product and appeared ready to quickly develop into a solid 3&D wing. All they had to do was stay out of his way and make sure he played regularly (with the Knicks if possible, or the G-league team if not), and it was in the win column as a mid-to-late 2nd round pick. They just couldn’t do it.
Dotson and Trier are both NBA talents, and Knicks have allowed both be become RFA’s without finding out who they are. If there’s a single sign of a bad organization, it’s that. Sign them back or not, there doing it blind.