Knicks say hey, Trey
Sign G-league star Burke
THE Knicks have added another player who can shoot the trey. One day after waiving veteran point guard Ramon Sessions, the Knicks officially announced the signing of guard Trey Burke from their GLeague Westchester roster – although he didn’t get off the bench in Sunday’s overtime loss to New Orleans.
“I think my skill set fits the team, penetrating-wise, hitting the 3. I think I bring energy, as well,” Burke said before the game. “I’m excited about the opportunity.
“I think I wanted to just start from scratch, kind of recreate my brand, show what I can do on a night-in, nightout basis with consistent minutes. I think going down there, a lot of people look at it as a knock. But for me, when I went down there, it was more so like a growing period for me. I kind of wanted to start over. A lot of people wouldn’t understand that, but now that I’m here, I’m able to embrace it and I’m able to not take it for granted because I know I had to go through those trails. And it’s made me come out stronger, not only as a basketball player, but as a man.”
Burke, a former backcourt mate of Knicks swingman Tim Hardaway at Michigan, ranked second in the G-League in scoring this season at 26.6 points per game, while also averaging 5.4 assists per appearance.
The 6-1 point guard averaged 10.6 points and 3.6 assists over four NBA seasons with Utah and Washington after the Jazz made him the ninth overall selection in the 2013 NBA draft.
“Trey has obviously been in this league. Beginning of the year, he wanted to play with the Westchester Knicks and learn the system,” Jeff Hornacek said. “Trey went down there and did a little more of the point guard. He scored, he can shoot threes. But he can penetrate and kick out to guys. I don’t know if the opportunity will come today for him. But he lends something different than our other point guards.”
The Daily News reported last week that some in the Knicks organization were interested in giving Burke an NBA deal, but there wasn’t room on the roster until they waived Sessions and the remainder of his guaranteed $2.33 million contract on Saturday. Burke has been signed for the rest of the season with a team option for 2018-19.
Burke combined with Hardaway to lead Michigan to the Final Four in 2013.
With Hardaway making his second appearance in the rotation following a leginjury absence, Michael Beasley played sparingly. Beasley didn’t score and was minus-16 in just nine minutes…Jarrett Jack netted a season-high 22 points and added eight assists.