Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images
Jean Montero, who was Overtime Elite’s first international signing, will head to New York to play for the Knicks.
Adie Von Gontard, Montero’s agent, told Michael Scotto of HoopsHype his client agreed to an Exhibit 10 contract with the Knicks after going undrafted Thursday.
Exhibit 10 deals are for one year and the minimum salary and count toward a team’s offseason roster limit of 20 players, but the money doesn’t count against the salary cap unless the player makes the regular-season roster.
Bleacher Report Draft Expert Jonathan Wasserman’s Scouting Report
Player: Jean Montero
Position: PG
Height: 6’1″
Pro Comparison: Dennis Schroder
Scouting Report: Quick and shifty, Montero should have success creating in the NBA. Improving his shooting consistency could help turn the sparkplug into a more well-rounded point guard.
Montero, who is from the Dominican Republic, is on loan from Spanish ACB team Gran Canaria. Per ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, the Knicks will have to buy him out of his contract.
The 18-year-old could be well worth the asking price. He averaged a team-high 17.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 3.5 steals per game in Overtime Elite, a basketball league paying six figures to high schoolers as an alternative to college or international play before the NBA.
Montero’s path to the NBA isn’t a traditional one, but he’s ready for prime time. He’s already been through so much just to reach this point.
He discussed his journey in a Players’ Tribune article in January: “Coming from Villa Juana, where most of the time one neighborhood is at war with another, where I had to literally build my own basketball court just to get some shots up…this really wasn’t supposed to happen for me. This doesn’t happen for kids who are from where I’m from.”
It’s happening for Montero, though, as he takes the leap toward a potentially fruitful NBA career.
The Knicks came out of the draft Thursday night without any new players. They made a series of trades, including sending the draft rights to No. 11 pick Ousmane Dieng to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
New York received three future first-round draft picks through its trades. The biggest move was agreeing to send Kemba Walker to the Detroit Pistons.
Per ESPN’s Bobby Marks, the Knicks have a projected $18 million in cap space to use this summer.
Montero is unlikely to contribute to the Knicks in 2022-23, but if he has a strong showing for the team in summer league and the G League, he will put himself on their radar in future seasons.
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