Galloway bolts N.Y. for N’Awlins

Knicks free-agent combo guard Langston Galloway is headed home — back to Louisiana. The Baton Rouge native has signed a multi-year deal with the Pelicans, according to an NBA source. The Knicks didn’t want to give the 24-yearold Galloway a long-term deal. They have an eye on saving cap space for 2017, and believe newcomer Justin Holiday can be their backup shooting guard after obtaining him in the Derrick Rose trade. The Knicks removed Galloway’s $2.8 million qualifying offer two days ago, but kept his cap hold of $950,000. The club could have signed him and gone over the salary cap by using the early Bird exception with a starting salary of $6.1 million. Sources have indicated Galloway will get $5 million-$6 million annually on a two-year deal with an opt-out. The Knicks, who could not include an opt-out under the rules of the collective bargaining agreement, had offered $3 million per year.

“I would like to thank the New York Knicks organization, my teammates and fans for all of your support these past two years,” Galloway tweeted.

The undrafted sparkplug out of St. Joseph’s gave the Knicks a big lift midway through their 2014-15 campaign when they won 17 games. He made the all-rookie second team.

Last season, playing for the NBA’s minimum salary, Galloway had a great start, but faded fast in January. He finished averaging 7.6 points per game after averaging 11.8 on a decimated roster as a rookie.

Galloway’s departure means the Knicks will likely have just four players back from last season’s roster with Derrick Williams expected to sign elsewhere.