The Knicks worked out point guard Jason Williams on Tuesday but it is reported that they won’t make him an offer. The Knicks have exclusive rights to negotiate with Williams until Thursday. This means that the Knicks are in serious negotiations with Ramon Sessions who is seeking a full mid-level exception deal. However, Sessions only has a qualifying offer from the Bucks at the moment. It’ll be interesting to see how the situation plays out as the Knicks may add two players from the group of Sessions, Nate Robinson, and David Lee.
Via Sun Sentinel:
Jason Williams began his comeback to the NBA in the seclusion of the Knicks practice facility in Greenburgh Tuesday morning. The veteran guard, who stepped away from the game last season for family reasons, worked out for the Knicks to show that his 33-year-old body is still up for the rigors of the NBA grind. But both came away fairly certain they probably won’t have a future together.
The Knicks have until Thursday to negotiate exclusively with Williams, but likely will not make an offer. Williams is expected to begin talking to other teams at that point, with the Memphis Grizzlies among the teams interested. One person came away from Williams’ workout Tuesday saying he “looked good” and that he was “in great shape.”
Williams spent 10 seasons in the NBA before retiring last September, less than two months after signing with the Los Angeles Clippers. He said he retired because his wife had complications during her pregnancy.
He could be a cheap option for the Knicks, who have been seeking point guard help. They lost out on Jason Kidd when he re-signed with Dallas, and have been considering Milwaukee’s Ramon Sessions and former Indiana guard Jamaal Tinsley.
But the focal point right now remains Sessions, who is seeking a full mid-level exception offer sheet (five years, $33.9 million) from the Knicks. Donnie Walsh, who, along with Mike D’Antoni is very interested in Sessions, doesn’t think he should throw that much money at the 23-year-old.
No other offers have been made to Sessions – only a qualifying offer from Milwaukee is on the table – so Walsh could be negotiating against himself.
It is believed the offer sheet needs only to be above about $3 million per season to avoid having it matched by the Bucks, who appear ready to move forward with first-round pick Brandon Jennings.
Tags: basketball, Donnie Walsh, free agents, jason williams, NBA, new york knicks
