The Knicks have signed 31-year-old Slovenian point guard Beno Udrih to a $1.27 million minimum contract, according to his agent Marc Cornstein.
The Knicks consider it a great value signing since Udrih made $7 million last season, leaving the Knicks long shots to land him. Cornstein said that after seasons playing in Milwaukee, Sacramento, Orlando that Udrih wanted “be back on the big stage.”
The Knicks now have a third point guard to complement Raymond Felton and Pablo Prigioni. Being from Europe is another plus for Udrih, as Italy’s Andrea Bargnani is known to prefer hanging out with Europeans or foreign players.
According to Cornstein, Udrih met with coach Mike Woodson, GM Glen Grunwald and assistant GM Alan Houston on Monday night.
“He was extremely impressed with the meeting,” Cornstein said. “They were straightforward and very clear about his role and he was really satisfied.”
Udrih averaged 8.2 points with 4.6 assists last season. He has also played with San Antonio and Sacramento, mostly as a backup. In 628 games, he has made 243 starts.
Wednesday, the Knicks worked out point guard Bobby Brown of the Italian League, but he finished runner-up to Udrih.
With the Udrih signing, that leaves the Knicks with 14 players under contract after inking big man Jeremy Tyler on Tuesday. That leaves one roster spot available and it could become a battle in training camp with several invitees with non-guaranteed deals. Point guard Toure Murry impressed in summer league, but could be the odd man with Udrih now locked into a spot.
“If he signs with the Knicks, the reasons will not be because of the money,” Udrih’s agent, Marc Cornstein, told The Post last week.
Memphis and San Antonio also courted Udrih. Knicks general manager Glen Grunwald said last month a third point guard was important because of the possibility of injury to Felton or Prigioni. Plus, coach Mike Woodson could elect to start Prigioni and Felton in a two-point-guard backcourt if they had someone as reliable as Udrih behind them.