Knicks sign Thomas, Amundson to 10-day contracts

Less than a week after acquiring them in a trade and just three days after waiving them, the New York Knicks have signed Lance Thomas and Lou Amundson.

Yeah, it's kind of strange. Thomas, Amundson and Alex Kirk were the players received by New York in Monday's three-team trade that jettisoned J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert, and the Knicks promptly waived all three. 

They have now re-signed Thomas and Amundson to 10-day deals, affording the team more flexibility than they would have had by keeping them on their previous deals, which would have become fully guaranteed Saturday. By waiving them and re-upping on shorter deals, the Knicks are free to cut ties with either, without financial penalty, if their auditions don't pan out.

In the case of Amundson, it's unlikely it will. The 32-year-old has appeared in 358 games with nine teams over nine seasons and is a known commodity at this point. It's unclear why, exactly, the Knicks are even keeping him around instead of using the roster spot on someone with higher upside, but hey, career averages of 3.5 points and 3.5 rebounds aren't readily available on the market (note: yes, they are).

The case for keeping Thomas is more clear. The 26-year-old won a roster spot with the Oklahoma City Thunder this preseason, ultimately starting 13 games and averaging 5.1 points and 3.4 rebounds in 20.5 minutes. At the very least, he's young enough that there's potential for him to develop into a useful combo-forward.

The Knicks also signed Langston Galloway to a 10-day contract earlier this week. It seems likely they'll continue to rotate players through those three roster spots until they find someone who appears to be a long-term fit.