After a disappointing end to his time in San Antonio, Jeremy Sochan is eager for a fresh start to his NBA career with the Knicks, writes Robert Sanchez of SNY.tv. With his hair dyed blue and orange in honor of his new team, Sochan talked to reporters on Wednesday about what he can contribute.
“I can do a little bit of everything, so whatever coach wants me to do, you know, whatever gets me on the court, I’m gonna do it and I’m gonna do it 100 percent,” he said. “… At the end of the day, I wanna be Jeremy. I wanna be myself. … I bring versatility, defense, energy, a little bit of tenacity, so I can’t wait.”
Sochan had plenty of options, with 10 teams reportedly expressing interest in signing him after he cleared waivers, but he said New York was “always at the top” of his preference list. He added that he had “refreshing conversations” with people throughout the organization and said it feels “very natural” now that he’s able to start practicing with the team.
“It’s just seizing whatever opportunity I get,” Sochan said. “And I think one of the reasons why I picked New York is it’s a very deep roster, a lot of really talented players and I think it’s a pretty cool opportunity just watching and to grow from that too. I still think I’m young, so just being around players that have established themselves and have done a lot of stuff in this league, I think is a crazy opportunity for me.”
There’s more from New York:
- It appears Sochan’s minutes will come at the expense of rookie forward Mohamed Diawara, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. The Knicks want to get a long look at Sochan to see how he affects the team heading into the playoffs and determine if he’s a good fit to bring back next season. “[Sochan] knows the league. The league knows him. He knows the officials and vice versa. So he’s going to get an opportunity,” coach Mike Brown said. “But at the end of the day, I’m going to play who I think is best for us. Right now Jeremy is new. He hasn’t played for us. So I have to see rather quickly what we have in him before going to the playoffs.”
- OG Anunoby is officially listed as questionable for Thursday’s game with Detroit due to a toenail avulsion, but he and Brown both said he’ll be able to play, Bondy tweets. After missing the past four games, Anunoby was able to practice on Wednesday. He had the nail removed, according to James L. Edwards of The Athletic (Twitter link). “There’s a lot of pain,” Anunoby said. “It’s an open wound.”
- In an interview with Tom Kludt of Vanity Fair, Jalen Brunson references the discount he gave the Knicks on his last contract and states that he hopes to make up for it next time around. “Obviously we’d love for them to do right by me,” Brunson said. “I think anyone would. I feel like I sacrificed.”