After appearing in 68 games his rookie season, Mindaugas Kuzminskas has not been a part of New York Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek's rotation for the 2017-18 NBA season. With the 28-year-old appearing in just two minutes in 12 games, it was recently reported the team was looking to trade him with Joakim Noah's return from suspension.
As Kuzminskas was aware he was on the trading block, the Knicks have ultimately decided to waive him according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
Knicks are waiving forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas to make room for the return of Joakim Noah, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 12, 2017
With Noah serving the final 12 games of his 20-game suspension to begin the new season, the Knicks were in a tough position. As they had 18 players, New York had to create a roster spot. While Jarrett Jack is on a non-guaranteed contract, he has played an important role in the team's surprising start.
As for Kuzminskas, there was previous interest from numerous teams before he signed with the Knicks prior to the 2016-17 season. While he is considered an old rookie at 28 years old, he did average 6.3 points (42.9 percent from the field and 32.1 percent from the three-point line), 1.9 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 14.9 minutes last season.
For the Knicks, there is great optimism after starting with a 7-5 record. As Kristaps Porzingis has embraced being the face of the franchise, they have surprisingly been competitive in what was supposed to be the first official year of the rebuilding process.
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