Jeremy Sochan plans to join the Knicks once he clears waivers, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.
The Knicks have an open roster spot and made some moves prior to the trade deadline to free up cap space. They have enough room below their second-apron hard cap to sign another player to the roster immediately, rather than having to wait until later in the season. By adding Sochan prior to the March 1, he’ll be playoff-eligible.
As ESPN’s Bobby Marks points out (Twitter link), New York went from $148K below the second apron to $1,148,358 last week. That gives the Knicks enough room to sign Sochan to the prorated veteran minimum and remain under the apron. He’ll be a free agent again after the season.
Sochan was placed on waivers on Thursday by mutual agreement with the Spurs. According to Charania, 10 teams were interested in signing him following the waiver procedure. He had an expiring $7.1MM salary, which made it highly unlikely he’d be claimed.
The No. 9 overall pick in the 2022 draft, Sochan had fallen out of San Antonio’s rotation since December and was viewed as a change-of-scenery candidate ahead of last week’s trade deadline. The club reportedly gave his representatives permission to explore a potential move leading up to February 5. The Knicks were one of the teams who were reportedly interested in trading for him.
Sochan made 149 starts and averaged 27.3 minutes per game in his first three seasons with the Spurs, contributing 11.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per contest during that time.
He could provide depth for the Knicks at a number of positions and his defensive prowess could come in handy during the playoffs. Sochan’s main weakness is his outside shooting, having made just 28.7% of his career three-pointers.
Good fit with KAT.
One club’s trash is another club’s recycled garbage. Jeremy spoken. Ggs
Doesn’t entirely replace him, b/c of shooting, but gives them the spot Yabusele had at smallball 5/4
They could put some really smothering defensive lineups together, theoretically
I was hoping for Looney or wishful thinking Precious.
Good add for the Knicks. Even he doesn’t contribute much offensively for the club, having another multi positional defender come playoff time is always a good thing.
I love adding Sochan as a depth piece. With how well Mo Diawara is playing right now, especially with how well he is shooting the three, I wasn’t sure the Knicks would bring Sochan in. Diawara has been defending well too, but adding Sochan to the roster brings more experience if Diawara falters.
“By adding Sochan prior to the March 1, he’ll be playoff-eligible.”
C’mon, get it right. He’s not playoff eligible because they added him before March 1, but because he was waived by March 1. They could have added him in April and he’d still be playoff eligible.