New York Knicks looks on against the Chicago Bulls during the first half at the United Center on April 9, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: The user expressly acknowledges and agrees that by downloading or using this photograph, the user agrees to the terms and conditions of the /Keynote USA/Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves//Keynote USA/Getty Images)” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/TvlUc_qNnpaPLG3Afib0wA–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MA–/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2024-06/7697f500-3274-11ef-b1d7-221dbc2547cb”>OG Anunoby is hitting the free agent market. (Photo by Michael Reaves//Keynote USA/Getty Images)
New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby has declined his player option for the 2024-25 NBA season, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic, choosing to enter unrestricted free agency as one of the most intriguing players in the market.
League observers had long expected Anunoby to decline the player option for the final season of the four-year, $72 million contract he signed in December 2020 as a member of the Raptors. Toronto selected Anunoby with the 23rd pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, with head coaches Dwane Casey and Nick Nurse helping foster his development into one of the NBA’s premier 3-and-D wings, a vital piece on the Raptors teams that made the playoffs in each. of his first three years as a professional and won the 2019 NBA championship in his second season. (Anunoby missed that entire title run after undergoing an emergency appendectomy just before the start of the postseason.)
Under that deal, Anunoby would earn $19.9 million next season. In a financial environment where the salary cap has risen to $141 million for the 24-25 season, he could end up nearly doubling that salary in the first year of a new multi-year deal, one with a total value that likely exceeds the extension. four-year, $118 million maximum that “Anunoby simply signed but would not have agreed to with the Raptors,” as Yahoo Sports senior NBA reporter Jake Fischer reported in January.
That lucrative new deal could very well come from the Knicks, whose trade for Anunoby helped transform their season.
At the time of the trade, New York was 17-14, seventh in the Eastern Conference and 16th in the NBA in defensive efficiency, according to Cleaning the Glass. The addition of Anunoby (6-foot-7, 240 pounds with a 7-foot-2 wingspan and an all-defensive pick on his resume) provided a huge adrenaline rush for Tom Thibodeau’s team, as the Knicks won 12 of the Anunoby’s first games. 14 games and he started to look like a real title contender.
Anunoby’s individual production (14.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 34.9 minutes per game for New York in the regular season) rarely jumped off the stat sheet. His overall impact, however, was immediately evident and difficult to overstate: the Knicks won Anunoby’s minutes in the 23 regular-season games he played for them, outscoring their opponents by a staggering 21.7 points per 100. possessions with him on the court.
Anunoby’s ability to space the floor from the corners (39.4% from 3-point range on 4.5 attempts per game in New York) helped open up driving lanes for rising star point guard Jalen Brunson. His ability to take on defensive duties across the positional spectrum (he spent significant time as the primary defender for both Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey during New York’s first-round playoff win over the 76ers) helped ease the defensive load. of the other Knicks. perimeter players, allowing players like Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo to fill more natural roles as wreaking havoc on the help side.
And Anunoby’s individual disruptive ability as a defender (1.7 steals, 1 block and 3.2 deflections per game after the trade) helped boost New York’s transition game, with the Knicks moving from a bottom-10 unit at half-time before his arrival to one he scored. at the best level in the league in transition with him on the field:
OG will guard Aaron Gordon on this possession, who returns late to the play. So Anunoby takes advantage of the situation, sees how the play develops and plays free safety for the pick 6.
You also have to give credit to Brunson for his aggressive coverage. pic.twitter.com/avh2Ra9RiA
– Knicks Film School (@KnickFilmSkool) January 26, 2024
Overall, the Knicks went 26-6 with Anunoby in the lineup, outscoring opponents by 16.3 points per 100 in his minutes, a dramatic turnaround that marks him as the kind of two-way difference-maker any team with enough money can do. to spend I would love to add free agency. (Like, say, the 76ers team that New York defeated in April.)
The complicating factor for Anunoby? Your medical history. Since playing 69 games in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 campaign, he has missed 76 games over the past three seasons, including 32 last year, with surgery to remove a loose bone fragment in his right elbow and a subsequent flare-up. upon return. leaving him out for most of the second half of the season.
Anunoby returned for the final week of the regular season, playing a big role (and big minutes) for Thibodeau during the Knicks’ first seven playoff games. However, in the third quarter of Game 2 against the Pacers, in the midst of perhaps the best performance of his career, with 28 points in 28 minutes, Anunoby went on a fast break, stopped with a problem in his gait and immediately exited. of the field. court with what was later revealed to be a left hamstring strain:
Anunoby missed the next three games as Indiana took control of the series. He attempted a comeback in Game 7, making his first two shots; However, it immediately became clear that he simply couldn’t move at the level typical of him, prompting Thibodeau to end the experiment after just five minutes and turning Anunoby into a spectator as the Pacers wrapped up the New York season.
“I just wanted to play,” Anunoby said after the game. “I wanted to try it. “At least I try to help my teammates.”
As he walked out of the home locker room at Madison Square Garden for the summer, Knicks wing Josh Hart pointed to Anunoby and center Isaiah Hartenstein and said, “Those two better get back.” With Hartenstein already on the unrestricted market and Anunoby joining him, we’ll soon find out if the Knicks can follow Hart’s orders and what high price tag it will take to do so.
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