Golden State Warriors

Santa Cruz Warriors Acquire Former Knicks Player Cleanthony Early in Trade

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:40 p.m. ET

Fansided, Angelo Mendoza/FanSided via Blue Man Hoop

The Santa Cruz Warriors receive former New York Knicks player Cleanthony Early from the Westchester Knicks in a trade.

The Santa Cruz Warriors announced Wednesday morning that they were involved in a three-team trade with the Texas Legends and the Westchester Knicks, acquiring former New York Knicks player Cleanthony Early from Westchester.

Santa Cruz also received the returning player rights to Nick Covington from Westchester and the returning player rights to Ronnie Aguilar from Texas.

In exchange, the Warriors gave the Texas Legends their 2017 second round pick, 2017 third round pick, the returning player rights to Verdell Jones III, and the returning player rights to Joe Alexander. The Texas Legends traded Courtney Fells and the returning player rights to Justin Martin to the Westchester Knicks.

Drafted 34th overall by the New York Knicks in 2014, Cleanthony Early played 39 games for New York as a rookie, averaging 5.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in 16.6 minutes per game. He played three games for the Westchester Knicks as their first ever assignee, averaging 20.3 points (45.6 FG%, 28.6 3P%), 9.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.3 steals, and 1.0 blocks.

The 6-foot-8 small forward was assigned to Westchester for four times during the 2016 season, appearing in seven D-League games on averages of 15.5 points (44.6 FG%, 33.3 3P%), 7.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 1.2 steals. Many expected the 6-foot-8 small forward to have a better 2015-16 season for New York, but he only appeared in 17 games on averages of 1.8 points and 1.5 rebounds.

Early’s 2016 season suffered a hiccup after after he was robbed at gunpoint and subsequently shot in the kneecap outside of CityScapes Gentlemen’s Club in Queens in late-December. He came back in March 2016 after recovering from his right knee injury.

Early had a solid Summer League performance for the Knicks in 2016, averaging 10.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in five games. He re-signed with New York on Oct. 18 before being waived a few days later. He was then acquired by the Westchester Knicks for the 2016-17 D-League season.

Per Santa Cruz PR, Early is one of the four players in basketball history to play both a D-League game and an NBA game.