The Knicks have agreed on a two-way contract with 6-foot-10 Croatian forward Luka Samanic, who was a former first-round pick of the Spurs.
Samanic was the No. 19 pick of the 2019 draft and was waived last week by the Spurs. Samanic, 21, played in 33 games last season in his rookie year and averaged 3.4 points.
Samanic is reputed as a new-age forward with potential from 3-point range.
“Luka worked hard and tried his best,’’ Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after his release. “These are always difficult decisions. We wish him well. He’s got a lot of skills and hopefully it translated and finds a situation where the skills will be used and hopefully he’ll be able to stay in the league someplace.”
The Knicks’ last venture with a foreign player didn’t work out. Argentine Luca Vildoza of the Spanish League was waived at the beginning of camp after the Knicks forked over $3.5 million in guaranteed money.
The Knicks had one two-way pact left and figured to ink forward Aamir Simms of Clemson to that slot. Now Sims could be in the mix for the 15th-man role along with Wayne Selden.
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