New York Knicks agree to re-sign Alec Burks, sources say; also bring back Nerlens Noel, per agent
The New York Knicks agreed to a three-year, $30 million contract to re-sign guard Alec Burks, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, and also landed on a three-year, $32 million deal to bring back center Nerlens Noel, his agent told Wojnarowski.
Burks, 30, shot 41.5% from 3-point range and averaged 12.7 points in 49 games with the Knicks last season, helping New York leap back into the playoffs for the first time in seven years. An athletic, slashing scorer, Burks found a home in New York last season after going between five different teams -- the Utah Jazz, Cleveland Cavaliers, Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers -- over the previous two years.
After agreeing to a one-year deal with New York last offseason, Burks provided coach Tom Thibodeau with a consistent scoring presence next to R.J. Barrett and, later, Derrick Rose on the perimeter for the surprising Knicks, who overachieved during the regular season before falling flat in their five-game series loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
In his seventh NBA season, the 27-year-old Noel appeared to find a home playing under Thibodeau. Noel played in 64 games in 2020-21, starting in 41 of them, and averaged a career-high 2.2 blocks to go along with 5.1 points and 6.4 rebounds a game.
Noel formed an effective partnership with fellow young center Mitchell Robinson when the two of them were healthy, and filled in nicely as the primary option when Robinson was hurt.
Noel previously spent parts of three seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, who drafted him sixth overall in 2013, parts of two seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, and then two more with the Oklahoma City Thunder before signing with the Knicks last offseason.
With Burks and Noel back in the fold, the focus will now shift to how the Knicks will try to improve their roster after that first-round playoff exit. The Knicks selected a pair of guards, Quentin Grimes and Miles McBride, in last month's NBA draft, and could still re-sign Rose, in addition to potentially adding other free agents into their remaining cap space.
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