Chuma Okeke entered the NBA from Auburn with an injury, and his inability to stay on the court has dogged the career of the 2019 first-round draft choice.

Okeke will get the opportunity to continue his career with a new team in the 2024-25 season after signing with the New York Knicks.

Okeke became an unrestricted free agent when the Orlando Magic failed to make a qualifying offer to keep him this offseason, and the Knicks have announced the signing of the forward to an Exhibit 10 contract, which includes an invitation to training camp.

Okeke played in 47 games for the Magic in the 2023-24 season. He had an 11-game stretch in January in which he averaged 24.5 minutes of playing time per game when Orlando ran into injury issues with Franz Wagner and Gary Harris. The 10 games in which Okeke played at least 15 minutes last season occurred in that block. That included his second-highest game of the season – a 15-point output that featured 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range in a 98-94 victory over the Knicks on Jan. 15 at Madison Square Garden.

Okeke had 20 points and 11 rebounds in Auburn’s 97-80 victory over North Carolina when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during an NCAA tournament Sweet 16 game on March 29, 2019.

The injury caused Okeke to miss the entire 2019-20 NBA season after being drafted at No. 16 by Orlando.

In the fifth game of his NBA career, Okeke sustained a bone bruise on his left knee and missed 16 games. Then he missed the final 10 games of the 2020-21 season because of a sprained ankle as he played 45 games in that campaign.

After playing in 70 of Orlando’s 82 games in the 2021-22 season, Okeke got into only 27 in the 2022-23 campaign. In December 2022, Okeke underwent a chondroplasty, a surgical procedure to repair cartilage in a joint, on his left knee.

Last season, Okeke averaged 2.3 points and 1.7 rebounds in 9.5 minutes per game. For his career, Okeke has averaged 6.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 20.3 minutes in 189 regular-season games.

An Exhibit 10 contract is a one-year, minimum-salary, non-guaranteed deal. If the player doesn’t make the NBA roster, the contract usually includes a provision that will pay the player as much as $75,000 if he spends at least 60 days with the team’s NBA G League affiliate.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.