New York Knickerbockers President Phil Jackson has confirmed that the team has signed NBA D-League veteran and former Georgetown standout, small forward DaJuan Summers and guard Travis Trice for an undisclosed amount, reported NBA.com.
The 27-year-old Summers, 6-foot-8, 240-pounds, is a good addition for the Knicks being much more seasoned than many of the undrafted players. Summers holds career averages of 3.3 points and 1.0 rebounds over 9.9 minutes in 83 games (seven starts) over four seasons with Detroit, New Orleans and Los Angeles Clippers. He last played in the NBA for L.A. Clippers appearing in two games in 2012-13.
Summers, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, was originally selected by Detroit in the second round (35th overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft following three seasons at Georgetown University. He played overseas in each of the last two seasons for Gran Canaria in Spain (2014-15) and Budivelnyk Kyiv in Ukraine (2013-14). He has also played for Maine of the NBA Developmental League (2012-13) and in Italy for Siena (2011-12).
Trice, 6-foot-0, 170-pounds, averaged 15.3 points, 5.1 assists and 3.2 rebounds over 33.6 minutes in 39 games as a senior at Michigan State University. He averaged 19.0 points and 4.2 assists in leading the seventh-seeded Spartans to the Final Four of the 2015 NCAA Tournament and finished his career with 202 three-pointers, fifth best in school history. The Huber Heights, OH-native. appeared in seven 2015 Summer League games for Miami's entry at Orlando and Las Vegas, averaging 4.4 points and 1.3 assists over 10.6 minutes.
Writing for the Knicksblog, Keith Schlosser said that Summers is a good addition to the New York Knicks because of his steady instincts and solid defense who can contest both forward positions.
"What's more, he's also strong and agile enough to guard certain two-guards in given situations," Schlosser said. "In non-NBA competition, Summers has been someone who makes balanced contributions, when it comes to scoring efficiently, rebounding, etc. But should he want to impress the Knicks, it'll be his defense that will likely help him stand out most. Having a hungry veteran around should really put the pressure on some of the other youngsters competing for roster spots in camp."
