Isaiah Roby's unique Summer League opportunity with the Knicks

LAS VEGAS — It was a paperwork move, signing Isaiah Roby to a contract for the final day of the regular season — a $400,000 payday when he still was rehabilitating from an ankle injury. But for Roby, it quickly became more than that.

Roby was unable to play, but he did accompany the Knicks on their postseason journey. And on the very first day of the playoffs, he was in a new place.

“From the first game I was there against Cleveland, and we had our pre-game speech, it was so detailed,” Roby said. “The coverages were more detailed, and everything was so much more precise. That was my first taste of that. We had a giant playbook. I look forward to being part of it next year.”

After a series of deals shifted him around the league (and G League), Roby spent the first three seasons of his NBA career with Oklahoma City, part of the youth movement and rebuilding project. He then moved on to San Antonio last season, playing under Gregg Popovich but with a team heading toward the lottery unlike most of the Spurs' seasons of success. He was waived in March before signing with the Knicks a month later.

Now he is the odd man among the Knicks' Las Vegas Summer League squad, a 25-year-old with plenty of experience — having started 64 NBA games — among rookies and G League hopefuls. Unlike the players trying to catch an executive’s eye and prove they belong, Roby is hoping to show the Knicks he is ready to help them with the sort of action he saw close-up in April and May.

Since signing with the Knicks, he has been rehabbing. The only reason he is part of this event is to get on the court and face game action for the first time since Feb. 13.

“I got here the last day of the season and obviously I was with them during the playoffs,” Roby said. “So that was a lot of fun for me, just being around that. It was my first taste of playoff basketball. So just being able to be around the team, learning as much as I can.

“I’ve been kind of working back, rehabbing and trying to get ready for this. And I got cleared two weeks ago. So I’m still in that mode. My focus has been getting ready for this.”

“Not just him, but us as a team we’ve got to focus on daily improvement,” said Knicks summer league coach Dice Yoshimoto. “Just like anybody else, he got hurt sometime in March or February. He hadn’t played for a long time. It’s important to get this run and get back into shape. He’s done that so far and he’s just got to continue to do it, get a rhythm at it and he’ll be fine.”

And perhaps most important, he has an opportunity unlike most of the players on the Knicks’ summer squad. With Obi Toppin gone, the Knicks need to fill the backup power forward role. While deals may still come this summer, Roby is as close to a veteran piece available.

“Right now I’m just focused on the summer league, just trying to get better every day,” Roby said. “Learning the ropes from Dice and whatever [Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau] wants from us.

“That was definitely a big part, going from end of the year injured and kind of have the summer to work back into this. It wasn’t like a make or break thing for me, but I wanted to be able to play in this, and test my limit and see where I’m at physically.”

Roby hasn’t stood out the way a veteran might in summer league, with 7 points and 5 rebounds in 26 minutes in the Knicks' first game and then 12 points and 6 rebounds against the Nets on Sunday. But numbers aren’t  why he’s here.

“I feel a little slow right now, but overall I feel strong,” he said. “I just feel like a step slow. I haven’t played live basketball in a long time. I’ve been playing a lot of one-on-one, three-on-three. This summer league is a test for me right now.”

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.