The New York Knicks are bringing back a pair of players who had been on 10-day contracts with the club, the team announced. Both players’ deals had expired over the weekend. Shooting guard DaQuan Jeffries is returning to the club, per a Knicks press statement released via New York’s Twitter/X account:
Jeffries isn’t the only returning Knick. Forward Mamadi Diakite is also heading back to New York’s standard roster on a fresh contract. The Knicks’ PR team also made the announcement with an additional statement:
Jeffries has already completed two 10-day contracts with the Knicks this season, meaning he is ineligible for any further such deals in 2023-24 with New York. The Knicks did not divulge the nature of his contract or that of Diakite (Diakite, however, is eligible for a second 10-day deal). The team had two openings on its 15-man standard roster, with which it can incorporate these two returning pieces. Jeffries would need to be added via a two-way contract (to add him to one, New York would have to cut one of its three two-way signings first, between Charlie Brown Jr., Duane Washington and Jacob Toppin) or a rest-of-year minimum agreement.
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Diakite had been inked to a two-way contract with the San Antonio Spurs earlier this season, but the club cut him on March 2nd. Because that’s past the March 1st deadline, he is not able to play (anywhere) in the playoffs for any team, due to CBA restrictions. In three games with the Spurs this season, the 27-year-old out of Virginia is averaging four points on 80% shooting from the floor, one rebound and 0.7 assists. Since 2020, Diakate has also played with the Milwaukee Bucks, Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers in brief stints.
Jeffries went undrafted out of Tulsa in 2019. He joined the Sacramento Kings on a two-way contract, and toggled time between the team and its G League affiliate, the Stockton Kings, throughout the 2019-20 season. He was inked to a standard roster deal the subsequent season, though he was cut in April of that year. He joined the Houston Rockets that spring, only to later be cut after 13 games. He played with the Atlanta Hawks’ NBAGL affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks, in parts of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. He also joined the Memphis Grizzlies on a 10-day hardship exemption deal.
With the Knicks, Jeffries has suited up for a variety of capacities, including two-way and the aforementioned 10-day deals. In 13 games with New York this season, the 26-year-old is averaging 2.6 minutes a night. Across his 14 games with the Knicks’ G League affiliate this year, the Westchester Knicks, he’s averaging 22 points on .485/.373/.758 shooting splits, 5.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.9 blocks and 0.7 steals per.
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