OG Anunoby Free Agency: What could the Knicks offer to keep their top FA in New York?

OG Anunoby is up for a new contract, and the Knicks can’t afford to let him walk away.

It’s why Anunoby has all the leverage in contract negotiations with a Knicks team that traded former No. 3 overall pick R.J. Barrett and former Sixth Man of the Year runner-up Immanuel Quickley, plus the No. 31 overall pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft to acquire Anunoby in a Dec. 30 deal with the Toronto Raptors.

If Anunoby walks, the Knicks will have traded two promising young players to rent Anunoby for a half season, only to watch him leave for nothing in free agency.

Not an ideal outcome for a team hoping to compete for a championship next season.

But what’s the price?

How much will it cost to keep Anunoby, whose arrival morphed the Knicks into a dominant defensive team that went on a 12-2 run immediately after his arrival and won 20 of the 23 games he appeared in ahead of the playoffs?

A survey around the league for players both comparable to Anunoby and comparable to his standing as the third or fourth-best player on a deep playoff team provides an idea of the salary figure the Knicks’ key free agent could land in New York this summer.

ANUNOBY IS COMING OFF OF A FOUR-YEAR, $72 MILLION DEAL

He is expected to decline the fourth and final year on that deal, worth $19.9 million, to secure a pay raise and a longer term deal, either in New York or with another team hoping to land his services.

The Knicks have a built-in advantage: Not only can they exceed the cap to re-sign their own free agent, but because Anunoby’s bird rights arrived with him in the deal with the Raptors, the Knicks can offer him a five-year deal, while all other teams can only offer a four-year contract.

The Knicks can re-sign Anunoby to up to his max as a seven-year veteran: 30 percent of the $141 million salary cap, or a five-year deal worth $245 million paying $42.3 million in Year 1 with an eight percent annual raise.

It would be unwise, of course, for the Knicks to offer this kind of contract to Anunoby, regardless of the impact he had after his arrival in New York, given he is likely the fourth offensive option in the starting lineup after other roster improvements this offseason.

The Knicks, however, because of the cost of acquiring Anunoby in the deal with the Raptors, are in an unenviable spot. After all, there are reportedly a number of suitors willing to pay top dollar to pry the three-and-D wing’s services away from Madison Square Garden.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were considered one such team before they traded Josh Giddey to the Chicago Bulls for Alex Caruso. The Philadelphia 76ers are now believed to be another potential landing spot for Anunoby, armed not only with Anunoby’s former Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, but also as much as $55 million in cap space to sign free agents this summer.

Imagine that? Anunoby leaving the Knicks to join the divisional rival he helped eliminate in the first round of the playoffs?

It’s hard to imagine the Knicks and Anunoby don’t come to an agreement. Anunoby is represented by CAA, and the Knicks are CAA head-to-toe.

TO DO SO, THEY’RE GOING TO HAVE TO PAY A PRETTY PENNY

Quality depth is the name of the game for teams in championship contention, and in most instances, quality depth costs cash.

Derrick White, for example, is arguably the fifth-best starter on the Boston Celtics behind Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday (who have all been named All-Stars), but White is reportedly set to secure a four-year contract extension worth $127 million at an average annual value coming in just under $32 million.

The Celtics are spending $209 million in player salaries for the 2024-25 season, a figure that will only increase with Tatum’s super max extension looming and White’s forthcoming deal.

Boston understands the cost of hanging banners from the rafters.

So do the Golden State Warriors, who won three championships in a four-year span, then won another because they were able to surround the core group of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green with additional expensive firepower: Andre Iguodala, Kevin Durant, Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole.