It’s officially the NBA offseason, which means it’s time for Knicks president Leon Rose and Co. to get to work.
While teams can’t officially begin to negotiate with free agents from other teams until June 30, they can talk with their own players who are eligible to hit the market.
With that in mind, here’s a look at some of the decisions facing the Knicks this offseason:
Key free agents
Isaiah Hartenstein is an unrestricted free agent and OG Anunoby is expected to be once he declines his $19.9 million player option.
He has until Monday to decide.
Both were critical pieces for the Knicks.
Hartenstein became the starting center amid injuries to Mitchell Robinson, and the Knicks went 26-6 with Anunoby in the lineup after landing him in a trade with the Raptors.
The Knicks can extend Anunoby at $117 million over four years, but that’s about as likely to happen as coach Tom Thibodeau employing load management.
Anunoby was a game-changer when healthy, particularly on the defensive end.
There has been talk that he is looking for around $35 million per season, and the Knicks own his Bird Rights, enabling them to go over the salary cap to keep him.
He did switch agencies recently, going from Klutch to CAA, the Knicks-friendly group Rose once ran.
Hartenstein is coming off a two-year, $16 million deal and is due a raise.
The Knicks can offer him as much as four years at $72.5 million using their Early Bird Rights. But there are other teams out there, like the center-needy Thunder, that can pay him more.
Considering how often Robinson gets injured, losing the reliable Hartenstein would be a major blow.
Extending Thibodeau
It’s hard to see the Knicks and coach Tom Thibodeau not agreeing on a new deal.
He only has one year left on his contract and he already has had more success than any Knicks coach since Jeff Van Gundy in four seasons as their head coach.
The 66-year-old Thibodeau is close with Rose and obviously wants to be here.
Coaches’ salaries have exploded recently, with a deal starting north of $10 million seeming to be the going rate.
Possible Brunson/Randle deals
Jalen Brunson’s emergence as a bona fide superstar could land him a massive pay day if he waits a year.
With one year left on his deal, he can ink an extension this summer for four years at roughly $156.5 million, or if he waits until the following summer, Brunson is eligible for a deal of five years at $258 million.
The Knicks would obviously love the former.
Then there is Julius Randle, who is coming off shoulder surgery and can get a four-year, $190 million extension.
But the Knicks are likely in no rush to extend him coming off a serious injury.
Bogdanovic option
The Knicks have until June 28 to pick up the $19 million team option on sharpshooting wing Bojan Bogdanovic or pay him $2 million to walk.
The 6-foot-8 veteran came over in a trade with the Pistons and mostly struggled.
Just as he was showing signs in the playoffs of being a court-spacing contributor off the bench, he suffered a foot injury that required surgery.
Considering he would be on an expiring contract, keeping Bogdanovic could enable the Knicks to use him in a big trade if one arises.
