Knicks Named Contenders After Securing Key Forward

The New York Knicks’ summer will be remembered for Jalen Brunson’s bargain extension and the Mikal Bridges trade, but there’s a move that shouldn’t be forgotten.

Before free agency began, the Knicks inked Anunoby to a five-year, $212.5 million extension, which seems selfish compared to Brunson’s new deal, but given the small forward’s injury history, he shouldn’t be seen as such.

Bleacher Report writer Greg Swartz believes that the Knicks are now contenders after signing Anunoby to a major extension.

“Anunoby’s five-year, $212 million deal was the 15th-largest contract in NBA history at the time it was agreed to, which might seem absurd for a player who’s yet to make an All-Star team in his seven NBA seasons. Still, the Knicks needed to bring him back to put themselves in the conversation for the 2025 championship,” Swartz writes. “Anunoby is an elite defender who averaged 14.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals while shooting 39.4 percent from three following his trade to New York. The Knicks were 20-3 with Anunoby in the lineup and 30-29 without him last year. Across an 82-game season, that’d be a difference of a 72-10 record (the second-best in NBA history) and a 41-to-42-win team (this year’s Houston Rockets).”

Anunoby’s impact when he was on the floor shouldn’t be overstated, and the defensive combination he will provide next to Bridges on the wing will rival some of the league’s best.

While Anunoby will have a contract that resembles an All-Star, he isn’t expected to be that for the Knicks. Instead, he is seen as the player that turns the Knicks from good to great, and that makes him extremely valuable.

The major concern with Anunoby is his health. He played in just 50 games last season and hasn’t played in over 70 in a single year since his rookie campaign with the Toronto Raptors back in 2017-18. However, if the Knicks can find a way to preserve him and get him healthy for a playoff run, New York may finally have a path towards its first championship in franchise history since 1973.

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