One of the key players the New York Knicks had entering free agency this offseason was two-way forward OG Anunoby. With a player option for the 2024-25 season, the defensive star opted out, turning down $19.9 million.
It was a no-brainer move by OG Anunoby, who was looking to cash in this offseason. Should he have hit the free agent market, there were reports a team such as the Philadelphia 76ers would have offered him a max contract.
Luckily for the New York Knicks, it didn’t get to that point. Right before the 2024 NBA Draft was set to begin, it was announced that the two sides had agreed to a massive new contract.
Once the league’s moratorium is lifted on July 6th, OG Anunoby intends to sign a five-year, $212.5 million deal with the New York Knicks. At first glance, that is an eyebrow-raising amount of money for a few reasons.
The first is that he is now the highest-paid player on the team. There isn’t a team in the NBA with better chemistry and cohesion than the New York Knicks, so it shouldn’t be as big of a deal as it may be with other teams and players.
But, it certainly is a little odd for a casual fan to see him making more money than Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle. Also, his injury history is very concerning. He has missed double-digit games in every season of his career outside his rookie season when he played in 74.
Alas, this was a move the New York Knicks were determined to make. The top spot in the league is currently held by the Boston Celtics. To beat them, you need wing depth to keep up with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
New York now has that. Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby are the best defensive tandem in the NBA, bar none. They are going to like life miserable for opponents as both are elite individual and team defenders.
Also, the contract that the New York Knicks agreed to isn’t going to look nearly as eye-popping in a few years. As shared by Tommy Beer on X, the numbers are a bit misleading. Starting in 2025, the NBA’s salary cap is going to increase by 10 percent each season.
That means the $42.5 million that OG Anunoby is set to make annually will take up less and less percentage of the team’s salary cap over time. As Beer showed, the $48.4 million he will be making in the final season of his deal is only 23.4 percent of the projected salary cap.
Looking at these contracts is all about the right perspective and lens. On the surface, this is a lot of money and certainly a risk. But Leon Rose has done such a great job with the salary cap and managing contracts that the team is in a position to handle such a massive payday.
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