BREAKING: OG Anunoby to Re-Sign With Knicks (Report)
Hours before rookie arrivals make their way to the New York Knicks, Manhattan's finest has been restocking its veteran front.
Per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, OG Anunoby intends to re-sign with the Knicks on a five-year, $212.5 million deal, one armed with both a player option and a trade kicker that will bestow him a good part of that nine-figure salary in the event of a deal.
Based on what the Knicks enjoyed from Anunoby last season, a trade is perhaps the furthest thing from their minds: the team reached a new gear once Anunoby came over from the Toronto Raptors in a late December deal, one that sent homegrown franchise faces RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley up north.
When Anunoby was stationed in the Knicks' lineup, the team posted a 26-5 record between the regular season and postseason. Anunoby averaged 14.1 points and 4.4 rebounds in 23 regular season games before he was interrupted by an elbow ailment that kept him out until late spring.
Further medical woes rose when Anunoby endured shoulder issues during the postseason, which came in the midst of a Game 2 takeover against the Indiana Pacers, one that saw him takeover the scoring load when Jalen Brunson was forced to the locker room with an injury of his own. Anunoby briefly returned for Game 7 of the series but lasted only a few minutes in the 130-109 defeat that served to end the Knicks' season.
Nonetheless, Anunoby's impact was apparent in both traditional and advanced measures: where as the Knicks ranked 20th in defensive rating and letting up 114 points a game upon his arrival, the team reached third over the rest of the season (since Jan. 1) and allowed fewer than 100 points in 16 games, the best rate in the NBA in 2024.
"(He) makes life a lot easier for all of us, the things he’s able to do on that (defensive) side of the ball,” Brunson said. before the postseason, per Peter Botte of the New York Post. “He’s a talent when it comes to that side of the ball, and obviously offensively he’s able to shoot from where anybody wants. He can knock down corner-3s, he can knock down contested shots and get to the rim. He can do it all.”
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI
Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks