On Wednesday (July 25), the New York Knicks announced that they had signed guard Kadeem Allen, according to USA Today. The move comes one day after they agreed to terms on a partially guaranteed deal with free agent Noah Vonleh. While the terms of Allen’s contract are not yet known, according to Ian Begley of ESPN’s Twitter page, it is likely to be a training camp deal for the 25-year-old.

Allen’s 2017-18 season with the Celtics and in the G-League

Allen was selected in the second round (53rd overall) by the Boston Celtics in 2017. The team signed him to a two-way contract which allowed the 6-3 point guard to spend up to 45 days with the NBA club.

He didn’t see much action with the Celtics last season, as he played just 18 games for them (one start). Playing only 5.9 minutes per game, Allen averaged 1.1 points, 0.6 rebounds, and 0.7 assists. He shot 6-of-22 (27.3 percent) from the field, 0-of-11 on three-point tries, and 7-of-9 (77.8 percent) from the foul line.

Allen received much more playing time with their G-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, and was named to the G-League All-Defensive Team. In 34 contests (33 starts), he went on to average 17.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 2.2 steals. He shot 44.9 percent from the field, 30.0 percent on three-pointers, and 73.2 percent from the charity stripe.

Allen’s collegiate career

Allen spent his freshman and sophomore seasons at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. He was named the Junior College Player of the Year for his sophomore year.

He then went on to play for the University of Arizona for his junior and senior seasons. Allen was named to the All-Pac-12 Second Team in his senior year as well as the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team.

That season, he posted averages of 9.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.6 steals.

Long climb ahead to make the team

The Knicks have 14 guaranteed NBA contracts, which doesn’t include their two two-way players. The maximum players allowed are 15, once the regular season begins.

New York also has two players on partial guarantees for this season in Trey Burke and Noah Vonleh.

It seems extremely unlikely that the Knicks would get rid of Burke after he proved to be a valuable scorer with the team last season.

While the Knicks do not have an elite point guard, they have Burke, Frank Ntilikina, who was on the Summer League roster, and Emmanuel Mudiay. Ron Baker is also capable of taking minutes running the team. For a team that has been defensively challenged in recent years, there is no harm in taking a look at Allen.