Knicks free-agent combo guard Langston Galloway is headed home — back to Louisiana.
The Baton Rouge native has signed a multi-year deal with the New Orleans Pelicans, according to an NBA source. The Knicks didn’t want to give the 24-year-old Galloway a long-term deal. They have an eye on saving cap space for 2017, and believe newcomer Justin Holiday can be their backup shooting guard after obtaining him in the Derrick Rose trade.
The Knicks removed Galloway’s $2.8 million qualifying offer two days ago, but kept his cap hold of $950,000. The club could have signed him and gone over the salary cap by using the Early Bird Exception with a starting salary of $6.1 million.
Sources have indicated Galloway will get between $5 million and $6 million annually on a two-year deal with an opt-out. The Knicks, who could not include an opt-out under CBA rules, had offered $3 million per year.
The undrafted sparkplug out of St. Joseph’s gave the Knicks a big lift midway through their 2014-15 campaign when they won 17 games. He made the All-Rookie second team.
Last season, playing for the NBA’s minimum salary, Galloway had a great start, but faded fast in January. He finished averaging 7.6 points per game — on streaky 39.3 percent shooting — after averaging 11.8 on a decimated roster as a rookie. Galloway was one of their most durable players the past two seasons and played in all 82 games last season.
The Knicks felt Galloway never would turn into a true point guard.