Knicks sign DaQuan Jeffries through 2023-24 season

Mar 27, 2023 - 1:26 PM

The New York Knicks have signed forward DaQuan Jeffries to a two-year deal that will run through the end of the upcoming 2023-24 NBA season, the franchise announced on Sunday.

The deal is guaranteed for the rest of this season and is non-guaranteed for next season, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Jeffries, who will turn 26 years old next August, made his NBA debut all the way back in Nov. 2019 with the Sacramento Kings after going undrafted.

After signing two 10-day deals with New York this month, and with the second one expiring on Saturday, the forward agreed to a pact with the Knicks to stay with the organization for the remainder of the season and also next year. This move is obviously linked to an NBA rule that demands all franchises to have a minimum of 14 players on standard contracts.

The truth is that Jeffries never actually got to play for the Knicks in his 20 days under contract. That said, Jeffries has had an impressive G League season playing for the Knicks affiliate in Westchester.

Jeffries’ contract will run through the end of next season with the player allocated into either a minimum-salary exception or a room exception. None of those types of deals can be used to sign a player for more than two years.

This signing also means that New York will have 14 players on standard contracts, which still leaves one roster spot open entering the home stretch of the regular season and the playoffs.

Jeffries played college basketball at Oral Roberts as a freshman before transferring to Tulsa. In his three years of college play, he appeared in 85 games starting 47 of them. He was named to the 2018-19 All-ACC Third Team along with former NBA player Tacko Fall.

This season, in the G League, Jeffries started 15 games for Westchester in the Showcase Cup, averaging 18 PPG, 6 RPG, and more than 2 APG in 33 MPG. Through the full NBAGL season (36 games), Jeffries has averaged 21 PPG, 6 RPG, nearly 3 APG, and 2 SPG.

Jeffries’ NBA experience includes stints at Sacramento (31 games), Houston (13), Memphis (3), and most recently New York, although he never truly got to don Knicks’ threads in an actual NBA game. Through 47 career games, Jeffries is averaging 3.8 PPG, 1.9 RPG, and 0.6 APG with 44/29/85 shooting splits.

Congratulations, DaQuan!