While the New York Knicks have been lauded for their smart spending and team-friendly deals in recent years, they haven’t been able to get much business out of OG Anunoby this offseason.
The versatile 3-and-D forward was set to hit the open market, with numerous suitors interested in his services. The Knicks ended up locking down Anunoby before the start of free agency, signing him to a five-year, $212 million contract.
That’s a huge number for a non-All-Star, but the Knicks didn’t have much of a choice: Rumors had it that other teams would offer Anunoby a max contract as a free agent. The Knicks took advantage of the opportunity to offer a fifth year to give him a deal that exceeded $200 million. It’s the Knicks’ biggest contract ever.
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However, former Phoenix Suns executive and ESPN analyst Amin Elhassan is not a fan of the deal, calling it one of the worst contracts in the NBA as appearing on Sirius XM radio.
“I’m not saying OG Anunoby isn’t good, I’m not saying he’s not responsible for a lot of success. [the Knicks] “I’m saying that when you guarantee every dollar of $212 million to a guy who has been extremely “He’s injury prone, including this incredible season you just had with him, where he missed a lot of time… You have to protect yourself somewhere.”
Elhassan pointed out that Anunoby had played more than 60 games only once in the last four years. Elhassan said the Knicks should have protected themselves from injuries by stipulating contract clauses, such as guaranteeing games played.
“I think in a perfect world he would earn every dollar of his contract,” Elhassan said, adding, “But, unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world.”
Elhassan also took aim at Jalen Brunson’s team-friendly contract extension and rumors that Mikal Bridges could also potentially sign a team-friendly extension with the Knicks.
“Understand that the less they take, the less this guy [Anunoby] “The government gets paid $42 million a year…so I’m telling you, Mikal Bridges, don’t give these people a discount; it’s their job to fix the problem. It’s not your job to clean up their mess.”
While Elhassan is not wrong that Anunoby’s contract is a significant sum for a player who has often missed playing time due to injuries, it’s not likely to become a burden for the Knicks. They got a bit of a discount in that they’re not paying Anunoby the maximum, when he likely would have gotten the maximum with other teams; the fifth-year player made up the difference.
Additionally, with the NBA salary cap set to increase by 10% each of the next few seasons thanks to the new TV deal, Anunoby’s contract will take up less and less space on the Knicks’ payroll because it doesn’t increase by 10% each season.
For example, in 2026-27, when Anunoby will be 29 and earning $42.5 million, Spotrac Projects that his contract will represent 24.9 percent of the Knicks’ salary cap. He’s currently on pace to become the 25th highest-paid player in the league that season, and that’s before any new contracts are even signed. While that’s undoubtedly a significant sum, it’s not a contract that’s going to put the Knicks under a lot of strain.
And because Anunoby has been so valuable when he plays, even if he misses 20 games a season (which is no guarantee), his services when healthy will make the deal attractive when he is on the field.
You can listen to the audio of Elhassan’s comments below:
OG Anunoby has one of the worst contracts in the NBA and Mikal Bridges shouldn’t get a discount from the Knicks, says NBA Radio’s Amin Elhassan: “I’m not saying he’s not good… I’m saying when you guarantee every last dollar of $212 million to a guy who has been EXTREMELY injury prone… you… pic.twitter.com/InuXoFb1tr
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) September 18, 2024
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