Trading for OG Anunoby with only a few months left before his contract expires guarantees an offseason strategy: The team will have to reach deep into its pockets. And it wasn’t just because Anunoby was about to become one of the league’s hottest free agents.
In an industry where players only receive what they have the ability to negotiate, Anunoby, the 26-year-old NBA All-Defense member who became the Knicks’ midseason lynchpin, also has leverage.
athletic 16 front office executives were recently surveyed and asked what they would consider a “fair” contract for Anunoby this summer. Responses ranged from as low as $30 million per year to maximum deals. One thing became clear during this process: Even those who were most hesitant about paying Anunoby were still hopeful that the Knicks, or someone else, would splash more dough on him than Pizza Hut. .
The executive who suggested the worst average annual value for Anunoby, $120 million over four years, made sure to point out that what he considered a fair contract was not in line with his prediction of what would happen this summer. Instead, they estimated that Anunoby — who declined a $19.9 million player option on Monday, a league source said, and will officially become an unrestricted free agent on June 30 — would earn far more.
Why?
The executive said, “Because he has Nix with the ball.” “They can’t lose him, the same way (Pascal) Siakam got the most out of Indiana (Pacers). You can’t bargain for someone, sacrifice so much and then let them go. it’s not possible.”
The Knicks found their missing piece just before the New Year, when they traded a second-round pick to the Toronto Raptors for Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn, along with two promising, young players, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley. The team was on fire as soon as the newest starter arrived.
New York went 20–3 with Anunoby in the lineup during the regular season. That was better than 22.8 points per 100 possessions when he was on the court. In the 14 games following the trade, when the Knicks were fully healthy, a group that included the spirited Julius Randle, whose season ended prematurely due to a dislocated shoulder, went 12–2. The first unit demolished any lineup that came in its way.
Now, the Knicks know they can’t lose Anunoby for nothing, even if it costs money – and a lot of it. Of course, he realized it the moment he received it.
Of the 16 front-office executives surveyed, responses ranged from a minimum of $30 million per year to a maximum of $245.3 million over five years, as suggested by one respondent.
The sweet spot was $35 million to $40 million per year. Nine of the 16 people surveyed earned salaries in that range.
Apart from one man who responded to a three-year, $100 million deal, every participant said he would hand Anunoby either four or five years.
The four executives proposed contracts worth between $120 million and $135 million over four years. The other four said $140 million over four years. Two others said $150 million over four years and another two said $160 million over four years. One person said $172 million over four years.
His reasoning for such a seemingly obscure number?
He believed Anunoby should earn slightly below the maximum including salary of $42.3 million in 2024–25, and that a starting salary of $40 million with a five percent annual raise was fair.
“But if I were negotiating from the Knicks’ perspective, I would have him start at $40 million and run for five years, so $232 million,” he said.
Two other respondents suggested a five-year contract for Anunoby: one for $200 million and the other for the max.
But not all dollars were created equal.
Many said they would include injury protection in Anunoby’s next contract. One executive who suggested a four-year, $150 million deal said he expected its final season to be “non- or partially guaranteed but could be fully guaranteed depending on games played.”
Just last season, Anunoby required surgery to remove a loose bone fragment from his right elbow, causing him to be out for a month and a half. He suffered a hamstring injury during the second round of the Knicks’ playoff run.
He hasn’t played 70 games in a season since 2017-18, when he was a rookie, and has missed 36 percent of his team’s regular season games over the past four years.
“I need something there,” said the executive. “I would be very scared based on his injury history. If the last two years are non-guaranteed, I can give him the maximum amount.
But survey participants were encouraged to evaluate what contract they believed would be “fair” for Anunoby, not necessarily predict his next deal. And in this market, dealing with a few non-guaranteed seasons could encourage Anunoby’s representatives to leave the Knicks for a deal.
There is a world where someone other than the Knicks offers Anunoby a max contract. For example, the Philadelphia 76ers enter the summer with max cap space and could emerge as a contender for the switchblade wing.
Other teams with significant cap space include the Oklahoma City Thunder, Detroit Pistons, Utah Jazz and possibly the Charlotte Hornets.
The Pistons have $65 million in cap room. If they wanted, they could offer Anunoby the max and still have room to sign another starting-caliber player.
The Thunder, who finished 2023-24 as the Western Conference’s No. 1-seeded team, also stand out as an intuitive option, even if they would need to unload a few extra dollars to make room for a max offer. . OKC is looking for a defensive-minded wing that fits their fast-paced playing style. But extending Anunoby a mega-contract would be unprecedented for an organization that doesn’t approach free agency this summer with the same zeal as Philadelphia.
The largest contract ever given by Oklahoma City to another team’s free agent is $16 million over three years for Patrick Patterson.
Still, despite other potential suitors waiting in the wings, the Knicks remain the most likely option for Anunoby because the system intentionally gives the edge to incumbent teams.
Another team’s maximum offer to Anunoby is $182 million over four years — a starting salary of $42.3 million with a five percent raise each subsequent season. But New York could give Anunoby an additional year and an eight percent annual raise, a contract that would reach $245.3 million over five years.
In short, the Knicks can get away with paying Anunoby less than the max but still technically beat out another team who might offer. Its Maximum. This is the way NBA finances work, where simplicity dies.
One executive surveyed, who suggested $200 million over five years as a fair price for Anunoby, acknowledged that if he were the Knicks, he would lean toward the team’s underlying advantage.
Let’s say Anunoby gets a four-year, $182 million offer from someone else. That’s $45.5 million per year, which will hinder the Knicks’ flexibility. But the Knicks countering with a five-year, $200 million contract would give Anunoby more guaranteed money, while also reducing the average annual value to $40 million per year.
New York could sign a five-year, $200 million contract starting in 2024-25 for just $34.5 million, which would be about $7 million less than Anunoby’s starting salary if he was on a max contract.
“(It’s) protection for a guy with an injury history, but keeps his per-year numbers a little lower for the Knicks,” the aforementioned executive said. “He’s not a man of maximum standards but he shouldn’t settle for anything less.”
The lower starting salary could help the Knicks stay below the first apron in 2024-25, which would increase their flexibility in the trade market not only this offseason but at the 2025 deadline.
Of course, the Knicks have no choice but to overpay Anunoby.
There may not be a Plan B in New York – at least, not a viable one. If Anunoby elects to leave, the Knicks could attempt to negotiate a sign-and-trade that would bring players back or draft picks for him, but would only allow a team above the cap to be traded that way. Will need to be structured. If he chose an organization with cap space, he could be gone, and the Knicks would be empty handed.
The team, even without Anunoby, will remain above the salary cap, armed with only the midlevel exception of $12.9 million to sign a free agent, which is big enough to bring in a quality player but not at any of Anunoby’s level. Too small to attract the person.
Of course, there aren’t many guys who fit Anunoby’s ideal, whether he’s a free agent or not. Anunoby is one of the NBA’s most versatile guards. In the era of “position-less” basketball, a lot of guys can switch to guards via centers, but not a lot of guys can start at anyone from Jamal Murray to Nikola Jokic. Anunoby is one of the few.
That’s why the Knicks remain the most likely destination for him this summer.
They may offer more money and more years. They have a built-in, personal advantage. Not only has Anunoby been in New York for six months and competed on a team that was dominant at the time, but he’s also with CAA, the same agency run by Knicks president Leon Rose.
Since Rose took over the franchise, the Knicks have sought CAA suitors — and those players have often ended up on team-friendly contracts, notably Jalen Brunson and Isaiah Hartenstein, who were set to sign a free contract this summer. There are agents also.
And on top of all that, the Knicks have motivation.
Anunoby’s potential market isn’t surprising. Philadelphia was a sleeping giant when New York made the deal for him in December.
So the Knicks have no other choice. They have to present their top free agent with a lavish offer – and from then on, his future is in Anunoby’s hands.
(Photo of OG Anunoby: Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
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