There’s a new metric by which to measure the OG Anunoby contract. Put another way: hundreds of millions isn’t what it used to be.
The context is the deal freshly agreed upon Friday by Immanuel Quickley, a point guard Knicks fans are certainly familiar with. He’s slated to earn, a league source confirmed, $175 million over five years with the Toronto Raptors. That’s for a player whose greatest NBA accomplishment, with all due respect to that 38-point gem against the Celtics in 2023, is finishing runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year.
Why is this relevant to Anunoby?
The Knicks traded Quickley for Anunoby. They traded Quickley, in part, because they didn’t want to pay him such a massive sum. They had their chance for a long-term deal before last season, and then allowed the October deadline to pass without an agreement. Back then, the rumors had Quickley desiring $125 million. He gambled on himself — and the circumstances of the booming NBA salaries — before receiving an additional $50 million.
Anunoby, meanwhile, recently agreed to a hefty five years, $213 million. It sounds daunting considering Anunoby’s injury history, a long list of ailments that has kept him off the court for some of his most important games — including the entire 2019 championship run with the Raptors.
We don’t know if there are any options or games played stipulations in Anunoby’s new contract. Those details probably won’t be uncovered until it’s official. But the initial sticker shock of that Anunoby deal — the biggest contract in Knicks history — has been eased by the comparables.
First, there’s the combined contracts of Quickley and RJ Barrett, the two players traded for Anunoby. They’re on deals worth a combined $282 million. As proven after the trade, Anunoby is a better fit for the Knicks — specifically with Jalen Brunson — than Quickley and Barrett. Then, add this crazy reality: According to Spotrac, Anunoby’s average annual salary is estimated as 28th-highest in the NBA. It’s just below Fred VanVleet.
Our expectations of salaries have to be realigned. Did the Knicks overpay for a role player? Yes. Did they egregiously overpay? Not in this market. Did they have to re-sign him? Absolutely. Is it a huge risk? Absolutely times two.
The injury stuff is scary. Anunoby hasn’t reached 70 games in a season since he was a rookie in 2017-18. He managed about 20 games with the Knicks before needing surgery. There’s a good chance that the contract will look terrible in its final year when Anunoby is 32. An albatross.
But the Knicks aren’t in a position to operate scared. Cautious has been Leon Rose’s philosophy but he switched it up this summer because competing with the Celtics requires gambles.
The big one was the trade for Mikal Bridges, which, as I’ve written prior, is also a gamble on Jalen Brunson’s stardom. Andre Igoudala, who knows a few things about backcourt stars from his time with the Warriors, likes that match.
“I think Mikal is perfect alongside Jalen Brunson to allow Jalen to be Jalen,” Igoudala said on Carlmelo Anthony’s podcast, “7PM in Brooklyn.” “They both compliment each other very, very well and I know I spoke on this, I thought Mikal Bridges was the best talent in the city of New York. Now obviously Jalen has proven me wrong because just his IQ is on another level and in the way he’s been able to play. It’s been amazing but everyone’s been asking, how far can the Knicks go with the team they have — I think Mikal was going to add that perfect balance to Jalen.”
The other big gamble is the money handed to Anunoby, the injury-prone Swiss army knife. It’s a large contract and risky but, if you take a look around the NBA cap sheets, it’s also the going rate.
