Knicks sign Damyean Dotson, Matt Mooney to 10-day contracts
Knicks guard Damyean Dotson controls the ball against the New Orleans Pelicans at Madison Square Garden on Friday, Jan. 10, 2020. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Reeling from the impact of having six players in COVID-10 protocol, the Knicks announced Tuesday that they had used their hardship exemptions to sign Damyean Dotson and Matt Mooney to 10-day contracts.
Knicks fans are familiar with Dotson, who was the team’s second round pick in 2017. Dotson played 165 games over three seasons with the Knicks, averaging 7.8 pints, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 20.1 minutes per game.
Dotson spent last season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but was playing for San Antonio’s G-League team in Austin this season when he got the call from the Knicks. He was available for Tuesday night’s game.
Mooney, a 6-3 shooting guard from the Mexico City G-League team, has played in a total of four NBA games, all for Cleveland during the 2019-20 season. His sole NBA basket was against the Knicks in a 106-86 loss on Jan 20, 2020.
The Knicks had just 10 players at practice on Monday and were only able to form three teams for practice by drafting some of the video assistants to join them.
In defense of Randle
There was some talk heading into the Pistons game about how the Knicks defense is not as formidable when Randle is on the court.
With Randle on the court, the Knicks defensive rating (point allowed per 100 possessions) is 113.2. With Randle off the court, that number goes down to 99.5.
Defense was the team’s strength last season as they finished the year with the fourth-best defense in the league. They entered Tuesday night’s game ranked 23rd.
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau wasn’t terribly concerned with Randle’s on/off defensive numbers.
"We got to get more from everyone," Thibodeau said. "It’s not an individual thing. It’s a team thing, so we've got to get everyone playing better."
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
