G League guard Dink Pate has reached an agreement with the Knicks, sources tell Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link). No details are provided, but it appears likely to be an Exhibit 10 deal.
Pate, 19, played this season with the Mexico City Capitanes, averaging 10.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 34 games. He was selected to participate in this year’s Next Up event at All-Star Weekend.
Pate was the fourth-best player remaining among undrafted free agents, according to ESPN’s big board. He was listed as the 71st-best draft prospect by Sam Vecenie of The Athletic.
A five-star player coming out of high school, Pate opted to sign a two-year deal with G League Ignite rather than play college basketball. When the Ignite shut down after last season, he tried to enter to the 2024 NBA draft but was denied a waiver due to his age.
Pate will join the Knicks next month for the Las Vegas Summer League, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
Dang this dude really screwed himself by not going to college
I’m not surprised he wasn’t drafted. Honestly, he never looked like a pro in the G-League.
I don’t think we’ll ever see him on an NBA court.
A+ name, though.
Dink Pate and Wooga Poplar are my favourite names from this year, for sure.
Thank you for teaching me something today!
I’ve never heard of him. Hopefully, he’s a great bench piece. I’m still questioning why PJ Tucker was given a roster spot instead of TJ Warren last Spring.
“toughness”
This is a real Dink move
I’ll see myself out
Guy was lucky that G-League Ignite was scrapped. If he had spent 2 years there, as he expected, he’d certainly be a non-prospect at this point. I guess now that AAU is in full control of US amatuer development, I guess G-League Ignite was deemed redundant. “I Survived G-League Ignite” T-shirt.
Being a 5 star HS recruit is certainly impressive to college coaches, but generally not much of an NBA resume point. Then again, he’s only 19 now, so it was only 2 years ago that at least ESPN thought he was a top 25 player his age. Just a question of how much damage G-League Ignite can do in 1 year. Worth a look, just to see.
Never heard of him….. has good size still young. Stats are decent per 36 mins. He played 27 mins last yr. Shot definitely needs work. Go get it young man. Ever since Thibs and Rose came. The G-league has been used well for development. Hope that still continues. Going to miss Thibs work with Bigs though.