OG Anunoby opted out of his contract, but he still could opt into rejoining the Knicks.
Anunoby made the expected decision Monday ahead of his deadline to forego the final season of his four-year, $72 million contract and become an unrestricted free agent when the market opens at 6 p.m. Sunday, per sources.
The player option was worth $19.9 million, but the average annual value of Anunoby’s next contract is expected to surpass that threshold after he showed that he can handle the pressures of New York by averaging 14.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.5 assists over a 23-game regular-season stint.
The Knicks are expected to prioritize re-signing Anunoby, 26, to a long-term contract but the most leverage lies with one of the NBA’s most versatile defenders.
Working to the Knicks’ advantage is that they hold the 6-foot-7 forward’s Bird Rights, meaning they can offer Anunoby a bigger contract than any other team and exceed the salary cap to do so.
If the Knicks were to lose Anunoby, it would be a significant blunder given that they knew the inherited risk of trading for a potential pending free agent and still dealt two homegrown impact players — former first-round picks R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley — to the Raptors in December.
Barrett is under contract through 2026-27, while Quickley is a restricted free agent.
The trade worked wonders to elevate the Knicks, who were 26-6 in the regular season and playoffs when Anunoby was in the lineup to drain 3s at a 39.8 percent clip and guard all five positions as needed.
But Anunoby’s injury history also followed him from Toronto.
He missed 27 regular-season games with an elbow injury plus four playoff games before gallantly attempting to return from a hamstring injury as a shell of himself in the season-ending Game 7 loss to the Pacers during the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Reports linking the 76ers and Anunoby on a blockbuster contract could be a negotiating ploy, but if that pairing came to fruition and strengthened a division rival, then it would only compound the Knicks’ mistake of trading for a half-season rental with no assurances at the time.
Knicks fans are excited about the core of a team that made the franchise’s most compelling playoff run since 2000 and hoping that Knicks president Leon Rose adds contending pieces — not subtracts key parts.
The exception could be one of centers Isaiah Hartenstein (unrestricted free agent) and Mitchell Robinson, who has been linked to trade rumors as a way to create salary-cap relief.
— Additional reporting by Stefan Bondy
