UPDATE 4:46 pm: It’s official according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. The Knicks agreed to a one-year, $1.4 milllion deal with Mason.
This comes after the Knicks missed out on Shannon Brown, who returned to the Lakers. New York offered more money but just one year (trying to preserve cap space for next summer) to Brown, who decided what he really wanted was the chance to go after that third ring.
The Knicks were in the running for Rudy Fernandez, who would be a better fit, but the Blazers are not just giving him away. Portland wants a first round pick at least, New York doesn’t have one it can trade until 2014. And unlike past regimes, the current Knicks brain trust is not giving those away.
1:07 pm: With Shannon Brown apparently headed back to Los Angeles, the New York Knicks are still looking for a backup two guard.
Hello Roger Mason Jr.
In a new YouTube video where Mason touts an acting coach (yes, an acting coach), he says this:
Mason was a quality, clutch shooting guard off the bench for the Spurs. Then he regressed last season, seeing his shooting percentage drop to 38 percent and his points per game drop by five. He saw his minutes get squeezed last season by the emergence of George Hill combined with the slump.
He is only 29. This might well be a case of a change of scenery snapping him out of his shooting woes. A lot of teams (including Portland, Miami and Chicago) clearly thought that and had interest, but then went another direction.
Which may work out well for the Knicks.