Cleanthony Early a non-factor for Knicks this season

Cleanthony Early has often served as the Knicks' lone inactive player recently.Once considered a steal as a second round draft pick, Cleanthony Early was a non-contributor to the Knicks this season before being robbed and shot in the leg while leaving a Queens strip club early Wednesday morning.

The Middletown product had played in just two games this month for a combined nine minutes, often serving as the lone inactive player on New York’s roster. Early’s opportunities were so scarce that the Knicks twice sent him to the D-League to get action and develop, including once on Dec. 2 when he pulled off a rare double-header with an early-morning D-League contest in Westchester before an evening…