The Knicks filled one of their two remaining two-way contract openings with a familiar last name.
Jacob Toppin, whose older brother Obi was traded to Cleveland over the summer, had his contract converted Saturday to a two-way deal, a league source confirmed.
Jacob Toppin, an undrafted free agent out of Kentucky, appeared in one preseason game.
The 6-foot-9 forward scored four points in 10 minutes Oct. 9 against the Celtics.
The Knicks also converted the contract of guard Charlie Brown Jr. to a two-way deal.
Josh Hart had joked on Friday that he and Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau have “an understanding” about how the hard-working swingman should take a dialed-back approach to practice.
“That might be his understanding,” Thibodeau responded with a smile on Saturday.
Asked one day earlier about carrying over his aggressive playing style in games to the practice court, Hart had said, “I can’t do that every day for, what, 250 days? 280 days? I can’t do that. I’d love to, but I just can’t. So sometimes, practice, it’s practice.”
Julius Randle told reporters Saturday that his teammate was “maybe just trolling” the media, adding that Hart’s “ass was flying in for offensive rebounds” and “setting hard screens” throughout Saturday’s session.
“Josh is a different person. He’s a different human being, knowing him the way I’ve known him for a long time. He’s different,” said Jalen Brunson, a former teammate of Hart’s at Villanova. “But there’s one thing that when the ball goes up in the air, he’s ready to compete. And then all the doubt, all the questioning, everything else goes out the door. Because when you see him on the court, there’s no doubt in my mind he wants to go out there and win.”
Hart, who also played alongside Brunson for Team USA at the FIBA World Cup, signed a four-year contract extension over the summer.
“[Hart] obviously does a lot of good things. But I don’t want him to be satisfied,” Thibodeau added. “And I think that’s important for him to have the mindset that practice is important, and he can improve, and that’s where I want him to focus. I want him to focus on that.
“Because it’s not only him, it’s what he does with his teammates. So that’s a big part of it.”
The Knicks also announced they have waived Isaiah Roby, who had been re-signed to an Exhibit 10 contract earlier on Saturday, Mamadi Diakite, Brandon Goodwin and Duane Washington Jr.
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