The Knicks still have a two-way roster spot open and will have one more opening on their 15-man roster once Jared Harper’s 10-day pact expires Monday.
According to multiple Spanish media reports across the past week, which have been confirmed by The Post, the Knicks have considered signing guard Luca Vildoza, a 25-year-old from Argentina who plays for Spanish team Baskonia. An NBA source said the Knicks also are looking at a couple of other players.
“He’s tough, hard-nosed,” one NBA scout said of Vildoza. “He’s an excellent passer, shooter and was consistent in Baskonia. He has a good feel for the game.”
The Knicks have had one Argentine point guard previously, Pablo Prigioni. The Knicks would want this signing to be for more than the current season, but sources said other teams will have interest this August now that he’s about to be free of Baskonia.
Vildoza is averaging 10.1 points in the Spanish league, shooting 37.6 percent from 3-point range. Eurohoops reported Wednesday that Vildoza was nearly done negotiating a buyout with Baskonia. Vildoza can play either guard position.
The Knicks are one of the few teams with a full-time European scout living abroad: Kevin Wilson, who resides in Barcelona.
The Knicks announced on Wednesday that swingman Alec Burks is out of COVID-19 protocols after missing the past six games, but wasn’t ready to play against the Bulls on Wednesday night. Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau recently said it could take Burks a little bit of time to get back into playing shape once he was released from quarantine.
Instead of using either Kevin Knox or Frank Ntilikina, Thibodeau reduced his rotation to nine men the prior two games.
The Knicks had looked into signing point guard Mike James after he got suspended in Moscow for an altercation with his coach, but decided against it because they were concerned about the locker room. The Nets signed James instead.
The Knicks converted Harper’s deal and put him on the 15-man roster with a 10-day deal to give him more compensation after being a G-League two-way player.
The Knicks were ready to sign Westchester Knicks power forward Simisola Shittu to Harper’s two-way slot, but never went through with the deal, even after waiving Myles Powell.
Powell, the Seton Hall star who played briefly for the Bucks, was signed for two days to the two-way slot to curry favor for training camp next fall. They still consider Powell an NBA prospect.
The Knicks have the lowest payroll in the Eastern Conference, but were tied for fourth place entering Wednesday’s game.
The Knicks knew the importance of the game, considering the roughness of their upcoming trip.
While Burks could be ready for Sunday’s start of the six-game Western trip, the Knicks were trying Wednesday to rebound from a bitter loss to the Suns, who racked up 118 points against the league’s best defense to end their nine-game winning streak.
Taj Gibson said before Wednesday’s game the Knicks had seen their defensive slippage even before the collapse against the Suns.
“Deep down, Thibs kept seeing it after the first four games we won. He kept saying after practice or even after the games, kind of, we got away with one, we’ve got to sharpen up on our defense,’’ Gibson said after the morning shootaround. “We’ve got to sharpen up — he kept saying that. We’ve got to sharpen up I feel like our defense is sliding a little bit. We’re putting up a lot of shots, we’re getting up a lot of great threes. But our identity is our defense. That’s the main keys we’ve been stressing.’’