CHARLOTTE, N.C. — If David Fizdale needs an assistant coach in the distant future, he wouldn’t hesitate to call on Ron Baker. And that’s what he told Baker when they spoke on Thursday morning.

The Knicks cut Baker on Thursday, ending his 2½-season Knicks run to make room for Allonzo Trier’s two-way contract conversion. The Knicks had to open a spot on the 15-man roster and the floppy-haired blond cult hero out of Wichita State was expendable because of the team’s stockpile of guards.

Intangibles and his rah-rah team spirit kept him in the NBA after he was undrafted in 2016. To a man, it was surprising when Steve Mills, in his first act as president, signed Baker to a two-year, $9 million contract for the room exception on July 1, 2017. He was former coach Jeff Hornacek’s pet project, but his defensive ferocity wasn’t enough to offset the lack of progress on his outside shooting.

“This was the hardest one I’ve ever been a part of,’’ Fizdale said. “Cutting Ron Baker was really rough. I talked to him today. He was fantastic. He’s Ron Baker. He’s a pro. He totally understood where we were. Obviously it goes without saying we’re resources to him. If anyone ever calls me on him I’ll have nothing but incredible things to say about him. I even joked to him a little bit when he’s finally done, spend some time with me and I may have a coach on my hands there.

“I’m telling you his understanding of the game, work ethic, communicator, leader, he’s got all those intangibles. I think when it’s finally said and done for him, I think he has a career in this league if he wants to [as a coach].”

For now, there’s a chance Baker, nicknamed “Ron Burgundy’’ by Carmelo Anthony, could hang on with a G-League team waiting to be signed. Or he even could go to Europe.