The Knicks are finalizing a three-year deal with free agent fourth year point guard, Tony Wroten, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Shams Charania (who has become one of the top “scoops” guy in the business).
So far in his career, Tony Wroten has been awful. Just awful. However, he’s only 22 years old, he’s very fast (although he’s coming off of a significant injury) and the three-year deal is likely not guaranteed beyond this season (although we’ll know for sure later today when it is finalized). EDITED TO ADD: There are minimal guarantees for the 2nd and 3rd seasons. With the exploding cap, it’s basically meaningless.
In general, one of the best things you can do for your team is to sign young players to long, non-guaranteed minimum salary contracts. That way, if they hit, you get them cheap. If they miss, you cut them.
It is extremely unlikely that Wroten will hit, but since they weren’t doing anything else with this roster spot, it’s fair enough. Worst case scenario, they cut him. Slightly better than worst case scenario, they use his unguaranteed contract in a trade. Best case scenario, he is not awful.