A two-time former Knick hasn’t seen an NBA court since the calendar switched to 2022. What’s he been up to?
I use this series as a way to simultaneously appreciate where we are right now, while also remembering players that once had my heart. In a way, this player was part of both. He not only was a player I enjoyed watching in the dark days of Knicks basketball, but he was also, briefly, a member of the Knicks during their resurgent era (although not in its most glorifying season).
I appreciate the work of Mike Walczewski for the past 35 years as the voice of the New York Knicks for the in-arena fans. For me, when I went to games during that bleak late-2010s period, the call and the player that most resonated with me combined Walczewski’s iconic three-pointer call with his way of morphing player names into one that resonates with the crowd:
“THREEEEEEEE POINT GOAL, Damyeaaaaaaaaaan DOT-son”
Dot was born and raised in Houston, Texas, where he attended Yates High School. As a three-star recruit, he committed to the University of Oregon for the 2012-13 season. In two years at Oregon, Dotson started in 69 games and averaged 10.4 points per game, shooting 44% from the field and an uncharacteristic 32% from 3. He showed a ton of promise as a freshman, specifically, as he dropped an efficient 23 points on Saint Louis in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
Dotson did not play his junior year at Oregon. He and his fellow teammates, Dominic Artis and Brandon Austin, were suspended and then dismissed by the university following sexual assault allegations. The details are not something I will repeat here, but more info can be found here. Dotson and his teammates were never charged after the case was dropped due to insufficient evidence and conflicting statements by the victim. Artis went on to play at UTEP and then overseas, while Dotson went on to the NBA eventually.
After sitting out a year, Dotson transferred to the University of Houston, where he blossomed into a star. The three-point maestro he was known as in the NBA showed itself and culminated in his brilliant senior year in 2016-17, where he averaged 17.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists (he was never known for passing) on 47% from the field and a conference-high 44.3% from 3. He was named to All-AAC First Team but didn’t get to taste the NCAA Tournament again, as Houston wasn’t yet a college basketball contender that they would be in the coming years (Quentin Grimes can attest).
Dotson was talented, but by the time the 2017 draft came around, he was 23 years old. He also had the baggage from Oregon that turned teams away. Of course, do we think Phil Jackson cared about baggage? He picked Dotson 44th overall, just ahead of the NBA’s residential hound Dillon Brooks. Dotson played alongside Chasson Randle, Luke Kornet, and Marshall Plumlee in the Summer League, averaging 13 points and five rebounds, shooting 48% from 3. That impressed team brass enough to keep him on the radar for a look in his rookie season.
He lit up Westchester in 13 games, averaging 18.2 points and six rebounds, shooting 48.9% from the field and 38.5% from 3. On a downtrodden 2017-18 Knicks squad, he got called up to play a more permanent bench role in February. Prior to that, he got into 22 sporadic games (even playing a G-League and NBA game on the same day!) with a garbage time light show against the Kings being his only game in double digits.
Something very strange happened on April 6, 2018. Michael Beasley exited 18 seconds in with an injury and the Knicks were already down Enes Kanter, Kristaps Porzingis, Joakim Noah, and Lance Thomas. Dotson got the most playing time of his career and didn’t waste it. 30 points, 11 rebounds, 12-21 from the field, 4-10 from 3. A masterpiece that led the Knicks to a blowout win over a Heat team that made the playoffs.
Dotson did enough in a limited showing to earn a permanent bench role in 2018-19, but he winded up making 40 starts for arguably the worst Knicks team ever. In 27.5 minutes a game, Dotson averaged 10.7 points and 3.6 rebounds, shooting 41.5% from the field and 36.8% from 3. He had a couple of sweet individual games, including knocking down eight threes on February 24, 2019, against the Spurs.
Alas, that was his peak. It turns out that when you start trying to win, the retreads get pushed aside. Dotson sort of had the same problem as Allonzo Trier. He doesn’t pass, he wasn’t the strongest defender and was often inconsistent from the field. Being a pure scorer can work, but usually, you have to be a team player to stick in the league. Dotson played 48 games for the 2019-20 Knicks and continued to occasionally have his moments, dropping 21 on the Raptors in January 2020.
He played his last game with the Knicks (or did he?) on March 6, 2020. By then, he was out of the rotation on a team playing out the string. COVID interrupted the season and Dotson moved on to the Cleveland Cavaliers, signing a small deal for the 2020-21 season.
He played fine, averaging 6.7 points in 46 games. His shooting fell off a cliff, as he was down to just 40.6% from the field and a ghastly 29% from 3. He got waived prior to training camp in 2021 and began the 2021-22 season with the Spurs’ G-League team.
The 2021-22 season would be notable for the resurgence of COVID-19 and teams having their guys drop like flies throughout the season. As such, the NBA green-lit a temporary roster exemption for players unavailable to play because of COVID-19. The Knicks were overwhelmed by injuries and COVID, so they made a quartet of signings in late December:
Tyler Hall, Danuel House Jr, Matt Mooney, and Damyean Dotson.
I didn’t care for the other three, although House’s bubble controversy was pretty funny. Bringing back Dotson to a team with expectations just felt comforting, in a way. Dot returned to play in two games for a combined 20.5 minutes. He made two baskets in a bench role in a chaotic December 23 matchup against the Wizards, where Kemba Walker turned back the clock and scored 44 points. He stayed on the team into January, but that day remains his final appearance in the NBA.
He returned to the G-League with the Austin Spurs and finished the season with 15/3/3 averages and posted a 55.8 TS%. Once the season ended, Dotson went overseas to continue his basketball career, signing to play in Turkey. To his credit, he balled out. 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists per game and shot 42.6% from 3 on over five attempts per game.
As is the case with many ex-NBA players, they tend to bounce around. He signed to play the 2023-24 season in China with the Ningbo Rockets and improved to 19.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.9 assists, albeit on worse shooting. Dot is still playing in China, although this next season he will suit up for the Nanjing Monkey Kings. He joins former Pacers big man T.J. Leaf on the roster.
Dotson was one of many Knicks players who never got another opportunity quite as large after they left. That’s what that era of Knicks basketball was. It was, by in large, a ragtag group of guys who may not have been in the league if not for the Knicks. Something I wonder now is “Would a good chunk of these late-2010s Knicks even make the current Knicks’ roster?”. A Knicks roster that has Landry Shamet and TJ Warren fighting for the final roster spots? Probably not. For Dot specifically, I think about it in this fashion: he was a teammate of both Jarrett Jack and Deuce McBride, no matter how far apart those two Knicks’ guards may seem. Hell, he was briefly on the same roster as Carmelo Anthony.
That’s a fun thought.