Knicks sign Brandon Knight, waive him on same day

Former Kentucky Wildcat Brandon Knight was signed on Saturday to a contract with the New York Knicks.

Then, just a little over three hours later, the team waived him alongside two other players.

.@nyknicks Waive Brandon Knight, Aamir Simms and M.J. Walker pic.twitter.com/Dy1e7yj1FP

— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) October 16, 2021

Knight, a first-round selection in the 2011 NBA Draft, has spent much of his career as a journeyman. Since heading to Detriot after leaving Lexington, he has made stops in Milwaukee, Phoenix, Houston, Cleveland, and Rio Grande (G-League) before again returning to the Motor City in 2020.

He spent the 2021 NBA Summer League with the Brooklyn Nets but did not make it past final cuts.

Knight’s NBA Career

Knight had a storied lone season at Kentucky. The Florida native averaged 17.3 points, 4.2 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game. He was a key peg in helping lead the Wildcats to their first Final Four since 1998.

His NBA career has been marred by injuries recently. Since joining the league in 2011, he has missed time for sports hernias, groin strains, back spasms, and a torn ACL that caused him to miss nearly two full seasons.

Knight has played in only 64 NBA games over two seasons since the ACL injury happened.

Last season, he had a brief workout with the Milwaukee Bucks but ultimately the club did not sign him.

Knight to Knicks might still happen

For just over three hours, Knight became yet another Kentucky connection to the New York Knicks. The team currently has five former ‘Cats in Kevin Knox, Nerlens Noel, Immanuel Quickley, Julius Randle, and former assistant Kenny Payne.

While his time on the active roster was short-lived, there is some room to speculate that the Knicks made this move to set up adding Knight to their G-League team.

Per the NBA rules, “teams can designate up to four players that they cut during training camp as ‘affiliate players,’ meaning those players will join that team’s NBA G League affiliate.”

Is this the reason behind Knight’s very short-lived time in New York? It is hard to tell, but the G-League season is set to start right after Christmas, so an official decision on the former Cat could be coming soon.