Florida’s Canyon Barry to join New York Knicks for NBA Summer League

Canyon Barry, like his father Rick, is a bit of a showman. So the former Florida Gators guard getting a chance to make his way into the NBA with the high-profile New York Knicks — who play on the same court where Barry made one of his finest plays as a Gator — is plenty fitting.

The younger Barry tweeted out that he has been invited to join the Knicks’ team for NBA Summer League play on Friday.

Graham Hall of The Gainesville Sun had reported Barry would join the Knicks for Summer League play moments before Barry confirmed it.

Barry went undrafted in Thursday’s 2017 NBA Draft, as expected, but now has a chance to catch on with the team that plays its home games at Madison Square Garden, where Barry’s collegiate career ended in an Elite Eight loss to South Carolina.

Whether he will be able to do so depends in some part on how the Knicks handle their roster this summer. Stars Kristaps Porzingis and Carmelo Anthony each appear to be on the outs with Knicks president of basketball operations Phil Jackson, and if either or both of those players are moved, that could create either space for Barry to end up snagging a roster spot or a logjam he cannot overcome.

If Barry does end up with the Knicks for regular season play, it would be a return of a Barry to the Big Apple: Rick Barry played two seasons for the New York Nets of the ABA in the early 1970s, leading the entire ABA in minutes per game in 1971-72, before returning to the NBA and the Golden State Warriors,