The Knicks are reuniting with Damyean Dotson — the shooting guard signing a 10-day contract on a hardship exemption Monday, as first reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Dotson was a second-round pick of the Knicks in 2017 and spent three seasons with the team. In 165 games, he averaged 7.8 points per game on 36.1% shooting from three-point range while getting over 20 minutes of playing time per game. He was relied on heavily during the 2018-19 campaign, starting 40 of 73 games.
He appeared in 46 games last season with the Cleveland Cavaliers where he struggled mightily, averaging 6.7 points in 19.7 minutes per game while shooting just 28.9% from beyond the arc.
The 27-year-old caught on with the San Antonio Spurs and was playing with the team’s G-League affiliate this season before the Knicks came calling out of necessity.
New York currently has six players in the NBA’s health and safety protocols due to COVID: Miles McBride, Immanuel Quickley, Obi Toppin, Quentin Grimes, RJ Barrett, and Kevin Knox.
They were also without veteran guard Derrick Rose for Saturday’s loss against the Boston Celtics due to an ankle injury.
It has forced the Knicks to scrape the bottom of the barrel of their roster, including starting Kemba Walker, who dropped 29 points in his first game back since Nov. 26.
Meanwhile, an extremely shortened Knicks bench posted just four points in the loss to Boston.
If the Knicks schedule remains intact, Dotson could see action immediately beginning with Tuesday’s game against the Detroit Pistons and Thursday against the Washington Wizards. But the COVID outbreaks spreading throughout major North American sports leagues — not just the NBA — will throw the immediate schedule into question.
