Jordan Clarkson career average of 17.8 minutes per game with Nix last season and dropped out from time to time Mike Brownrotation, but the veteran guard did not take meetings or receive offers from opponents as a free agent this offseason, writes Stefan Bondi of The New York Post.
“It was pretty chilly to be honest” Clarkson said of his latest foray into free will. “I knew I wanted to come back here, so it was easy. We didn’t really listen to anything else. I told my agent (Rich Pavel) and all I wanted to come back here and when the money situation worked out I wanted to come back. Do nothing else.”
Bondi learned from sources that the Knicks appreciated Clarkson’s presence in the locker room and the fact that he maintained a positive attitude despite an inconsistent role. The 34-year-old, who is back on a minimum-salary contract, is believed to be a backlog Landry Shamet, Jose Alvaradoand Miles McBride on the backfield depth chart, but he is meeting what the team expects from him.
“I know it’s not my usual role that I played before I came here.” Clarkson said. “But it’s something I’ve fallen in love with, and I love playing my role and playing for this team and playing for each other. I think that was the biggest thing I learned last year.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic:
- After LeBron James refused Mike Breen reported that he “allowed (Joel Embiid) hear this” after Sixers the big man was a couple of minutes late to practice, Embiid also disputed Breen’s account, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “It sucks, but what can you do? It’s a shame.” Embiid said after his preseason debut Thursday. “I don’t know where it came from. It never happened.” The star center added that he feels like an “easy target” for criticism and vowed that the 76ers will block out “outside noise” and stick together.
- Delaware Blue Coats – Sixers‘ G League branch – acquired Dylan Jones” returning the rights to the Rip City remix in a three-team trade, the team announced Thursday (Link to Twitter). Jones is currently in camp with the 76ers on Exhibition 10 deal, so the Blue Coats, by acquiring his rights back, guarantee that he will receive his $91K bonus if he opts out and then spends at least 60 days with Philadelphia’s G League team.
- The Predators hasn’t made any major moves in the lineup outside Kawhi Leonard trade this offseason, but they signed a veteran forward Kyle Anderson on the minimum wage contract. Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca and TSN.ca’s Josh Levenberg both will take a closer look at adding Anderson, whom Toronto’s front office has targeted for the better part of a decade. The 33-year-old played with and worked out with Leonard in San Antonio Darko Rayakovich when the Raptors head coach was an assistant in Memphis. “He doesn’t shy away from talking to the guys, and you can call it mentoring, leadership, you can call it being responsible for each other, whatever it is.” said Rayakovich. “Kyle was always about the right things.”
