Knicks sign guard, but it’s not Kyrie!
PHOTO BY AP
Just in time for Frank Ntilikina’s birthday, the Knicks finally have a veteran to help the young point guard. And no, it’s not Kyrie Irving.
Ramon Sessions, a 31-year-old career journeyman, is finalizing a one-year, $2.33 million deal with New York, a source confirmed to the Daily News on Friday. The Knicks represent Sessions’ ninth NBA stop since being drafted 56th overall in 2007, and by far represents the most experienced point guard on a roster featuring Ntikilina and Ron Baker at that position.
The 31-year-old Sessions missed the final two months of last season because of a meniscus tear — the same injury that ended Derrick Rose’s campaign — after averaging 6.2 points in 16.2 minutes over 50 games with the Hornets.
With more playing time at his peak in 2013-14, he averaged 12.3 points and 4.1 assists with the Hornets and Bucks. With the Knicks, his presence will be important to help along Ntilikina, the seventh overall pick this year, who turned 19 on Friday.
It has been the desire of the Knicks and Ntilikina’s camp that he won’t have to shoulder too much burden in his first season.
“I’m excited about young Frank, but also I think we’ll need some veteran guidance,” Knicks GM Scott Perry said last week. “But whoever that will be, we’ll find out who that will be in the days and weeks to come. But you definitely want to bolster that position. I look at point guard, when you talk about young players, especially young rookie guys coming in the league, it’s important to have a veteran alongside him to help in the mentorship alongside Jeff and his staff’s mentorship.”
Counting Sessions, the Knicks have 12 players on guaranteed contracts. They’re also working towards a deal with secondround pick Damyean Dotson — at $2.6 million guaranteed for two years, a source told the News.
The Knicks contacted several point guards during the free agency process, but were never close with the top players before using almost all their cap space on Baker and Tim Hardaway Jr. They have tried to engage the Cavaliers in a trade for Irving, who, according to ESPN, wants “very badly” to play in New York.