Mike Bibby's agent, David Falk, confirmed that the former Miami Heat point guard and 13-year veteran will sign with the New York Knicks on a one-year deal at the veteran's minimum of $1.4 million.
"I've been trying for about six years to get him playing for (coach Mike) D'Antoni, but at the time this guy named (Steve) Nash was blocking us," Falk told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard. "I've always felt Mike would flourish in his offense."
On Friday, at the Knicks' first day of training camp, D'Antoni said he was comfortable with starting Toney Douglas at point guard in place of the waived Chauncey Billups. But because of Douglas' subpar play at that position during the season, especially when the Knicks got swept by the Celtics in the first round of the 2011 playoffs, speculation was raised that the team was still in the hunt for a point guard.
Baron Davis was reported to be a prime free-agent target, but the Cavaliers still haven't decided whether or not they're going to use their amnesty clause on him. J.J. Barea was also in the mix. But with Bibby, who will arrive in New York late Saturday night, the Knicks land a player who has years of experience directing a team deep into the postseason, which he did with the Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks and Heat.
Bibby boasts career averages of 15.2 points, 5.7 assists, 1.2 steals, with a respectable 38.1 percentage from beyond the arc.
On Saturday, during the Knicks' official introduction of Tyson Chandler, D'Antoni didn't get into too many details about the potential Bibby acquisition.
"I don't know exactly where it stands, but that's a good name," the coach said. "That's a veteran point guard that would be nice. We'll see how that works out."
Jared Zwerling is a regular contributor to ESPNNewYork.com. Information from ESPNNewYork.com's Ian Begley was used in this report.