The Knicks brought Jordan Clarkson back on a one-year deal, giving New York's crowded backcourt another proven veteran alongside Landry Shamet.
Jordan Clarkson is staying in New York, agreeing to a one-year deal worth $3.9 million to return to the Knicks on Thursday in a move first reported by Shams Charania of ESPN that keeps another piece of the team's championship roster intact.
Clarkson joined the Knicks last summer on a minimum contract after Utah waived him, and while his numbers dropped to career lows across the board, he still found ways to matter during a title run that ended a 53-year wait for the franchise.
He averaged 8.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists a game in the regular season, then scored 10 points on a hot shooting night in Game 3 of the Finals when Mike Brown needed a spark off his bench.
Why New York Brought Him Back
Jalen Brunson had surgery on his left wrist this offseason after playing through the injury for most of the championship run, and while he's expected to return to basketball activities later this summer, the Knicks were not about to enter next season without some extra insurance in the backcourt.
Reports out of New York signaled the front office wanted Clarkson back long before the deal got done.
Ian Begley of SNY said the team had "expressed, all along here, a desire" to keep him around, and free agency proved that true once it opened.
A Crowded Backcourt
That desire makes more sense given who else New York already has locked up.
Jose Alvarado returned on a three-year deal worth $14.3 million, and Landry Shamet signed back for four years and $23.9 million after a playoff run that included a stretch of hitting 11 of his 12 three-point attempts in the Eastern Conference Finals, then closed the year averaging 9.3 points on 39.2 percent shooting from deep.
Clarkson, by comparison, shot 45.1 percent from the field but just 32.7 percent from three, a dip from his days in Utah.
Add in Miles McBride entering the final year of his own deal, and Clarkson now slots in as a fourth guard behind three players the Knicks already trust.
The Knicks' Championship Run
None of this happens without what the Knicks pulled off this past season.
New York finished the regular season 53-29, won the NBA Cup in December, and then went 16-3 through the playoffs, a run that included the largest comeback in Finals history during a Game 4 win over San Antonio.
The Spurs fell in five games, and the Knicks lifted their first championship since 1973.
Owner James Dolan wanted the roster kept below the second tax apron, and Mitchell Robinson's departure to Boston ended up being the cost of staying there.
Clarkson will not see big minutes next season, but he gives Brown a guard who has already won a title in New York and knows exactly what his role looks like heading into the next one.
