Kadeem Allen is Gone For Now, But Maybe Not Forgotten
Leon Rose's Knicks front office made its first move on Thursday evening, waiving two-way guard Kadeem Allen in favor of claiming two-way guard Jared Harper off of waivers from the Phoenix Suns.
Claiming Harper was definitely a smart move — he's 22 years old and had a standout season with the G-League Northern Arizona Suns this year, averaging over 20 points and five assists. And that's without even bringing up his three-year career at Auburn, where he helped lead the Tigers to a Final Four appearance as a junior before entering the NBA draft.
But one side effect of the Knicks' waiving of Allen was an outpouring of grief and support from Knicks fans on social media over the loss of the guard that spent two seasons as a two-way player with the Knicks. And why wouldn't he have earned some fans in New York? Allen didn't put up the flashiest stats, but he served as a "break in case of emergency" option for the Knicks at point guard, and in what minutes he did get, served as a low-risk option who took care of the ball and made quick decisions for himself and others.
Fans of Allen need not fret, though, because this move doesn't necessarily mean that the Knicks are done with him.
The two-way deal that Allen signed with the Knicks in 2018-19 contained a second-year two-way option for 2019-20, which the Knicks gladly picked up last summer. Allen had greatly outplayed the two-way deal in his first year in New York, so it made some sense to bring him back at a contract that was well below market value.
Now, however, the Knicks' season is over, and (fortunately for Allen, if he proved enough the last two years) so is Allen's time as a two-way player.
Per Larry Coon's CBAFAQ, "A player is ineligible to sign a Two-Way contract if he will have more than three years of NBA service at any point in the contract. A player cannot play under Two-Way contracts for the same team for more than three years total."
Allen has only played two years on a two-way contract with the Knicks, but prior to that he played in 18 games for the Boston Celtics in the 2017-18 season. That means the 27-year-old guard has played in the NBA for three seasons, and thus has effectively "aged out" and can't sign another two-way deal to stay with the Knicks.
Harper, meanwhile, could potentially be signed for two more years of two-way deals with the Knicks, though he will be a free agent this fall as a restricted free agent.
Allen, provided he clears waivers, will now become an unrestricted free agent and potentially be available to join a team for the NBA's Orlando restart. The only issue there for the Knicks is that a lot of the deals being signed during the current mini free agent period are including options for 2020-21 as well, which could potentially tie Allen up for next season and box the Knicks out from being able to sign him.
But either way, the Knicks made what should ultimately be viewed as a smart move. Allen isn't much more than a minimum salary player anyway, and so to that point it didn't make much sense to keep him in one of the Knicks' two two-way spots with a younger option available. With a large amount of expiring contracts this offseason and few big-name free agents to chase, Knicks fans might get to see Allen back with the team sooner than later — and as a full-time player, no less.
