Toure Murry was one of the players that made an positive impression on Knicks head coach Mike Woodson during his time with the team at Summer League in Las Vegas.
Jeremy Tyler was the other, and he was signed by the Knicks to a partially-guaranteed deal at the beginning of August. But word came late on Thursday that Tyler would be sidelined 8-10 weeks following foot surgery, which may have been the reason behind the training camp invite that Murry accepted the very same day.
From Marc Stein of ESPN.com:Free-agent guard Toure’ Murry has accepted the New York Knicks’ invitation to training camp after a strong late push from the Miami Heat, according to sources close to the situation.
Sources told ESPN.com that Murry, following his strong summer-league showing with the Knicks, ultimately decided to try to build on his July success in a New York uniform despite receiving an offer to go to camp instead with the two-time reigning champions, who have only 13 players under contract.
It makes sense for Murry to try to make the Knicks squad over that of the defending champs, especially after playing with the team during Summer League and garnering the praise of Woodson.
As for Tyler, the 8-10 week timetable will force him to miss all of training camp and the preseason, which is obviously unfortunate for a developing player looking to make an impact on his new team’s roster.