MAY 6: The Knicks have officially signed Vildoza, the team announced in a press release. While the deal has been finalized, it remains unclear exactly when the 25-year-old will be able to report to the team.
New York now has a full 17-man roster.
MAY 5: The Knicks and Argentinian guard Luca Vildoza have reached an agreement on a four-year deal worth $13.6MM, agent Alex Saratsis of Octagon Sports tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
According to Wojnarowski, Vildoza intends to fly to New York once he clears the immigration process, but it remains unclear exactly when he’ll complete his deal or whether he’ll be available for the Knicks at all this season. His exact timeline will depend on how long it takes him to go through the immigration process, to undergo a physical, and to clear the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
Wojnarowski reports that only the first year of Vildoza’s contract will be guaranteed. New York will have a chance to evaluate him in the Olympics, Summer League, and training camp before having to commit to a second-year guarantee, Woj notes.
Vildoza, 25, has been playing basketball professionally since 2012, having started his career with Quilmes in Argentina. He joined Baskonia in 2017 and has spent the last four seasons in Spain, playing a key role in the club’s backcourt. In 31 EuroLeague games in 2020/21, he averaged 10.1 points and 3.4 assists in 25.2 minutes per contest, posting a shooting line of .410/.376/.761.
Reports last week indicated that the Knicks were eyeing a deal with Vildoza, who had reportedly agreed to a buyout with Baskonia. The club still has cap room available, which will be used to accommodate a long-term contract worth more than the veteran’s minimum. The signing will push the Knicks above the minimum salary floor for 2020/21, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.
Once Jared Harper‘s 10-day contract expired on Sunday night, the Knicks had one open spot on their 15-man roster and one open two-way contract slot. The team announced that Harper received a second 10-day deal, but the league’s official transactions log showed that he was actually re-signed to a two-way contract, which Hoops Rumors has confirmed. As such, there’s an open spot on the 15-man squad for Vildoza.
Meanwhile the “light years” ahead Warriors keep running out 8 guys until their legs fall off. “Not chasing wins” though! Great behavior from the most valuable franchise in the NBA! Have every chance to act like the Yankees, but instead would rather act like the A’s, ya hate to see it…
Wow 4 years. Are they expecting Luca to be the PG of the future?
Once again, the Warriors are the only 2nd most valuable franchise in the NBA at $4.7B only slightly ahead of the Lakers at $4.6B while the Knicks are still the most valuable franchise in the NBA at $5B.
Grande Luca!
LUCA ….. LUCA ….. LUCA !!!!!!!
We got our Luca, yeeeesss. He’s feisty and plays the point well. Good passer and PnR guy. To get him now. Suuuuree it helps. All hands on deck. Playoffs are coming. Already here for us. We got Nuggets, Suns, Clippers, Lakers, Spurs, Hornets, Celtics . As we try and hold on to Hm court for the playoffs.
Let’s go LUCA ….. Knickerbockers
Know nothing about this dude but I’ll take your word for it.
The beauty of having cap space. They basically bought his NBA rights, and fixed the salary if they opt to keep him.
Agreed, nothing past this season is guaranteed, so buy his rights and get a cost controlled potential contributor who has a Euro track record to give some comfort in his abilities.
Can’t control Jokic with no Mitch. Then Austin was waiting for this gm. Good for him Rivers had 25 tonight. Knicks have a tough May. Looked winded tonight. Randle 29 mins, RJ 28 mins. Bench was good. Suns up next. Stay focused
As good as Rivers was last night as of right now don’t have any regrets the Knicks trading for Rose.
Randle and Barrett may have only played 29 and 28 minutes, but they were inexplicably still on the court with like five minutes left in the game in the fourth despite being down 25+ points (as was Rose). I like Thibs but he seriously overuses players.
We’ll have him stand in the corners like Quickly while randall plays pg.
Well that strategy has earned the Knicks a playoff spot so hey