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While Knicks 3-and-D stud OG Anunoby‘s return this season is still under a cloud of mystery, his future in New York is already a foregone conclusion.
Anunoby, who is expected to decline his $19.9 million player option next season to become an unrestricted free agent, is re-signing with the Knicks, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
“[Julius] Randle‘s recovery and return next season — along with the re-signing of Anunoby — could make the Knicks one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference,” Wojnarowski wrote on Thursday, April 4.
The Knicks acquired Anunoby in a midseason trade with the intent of keeping him beyond this season after they gave up former No. 3 pick RJ Barrett and last season’s 6th Man of the Year runner-up Immanuel Quickley and a second-round pick.
Their January run since Anunoby’s arrival until he and Randle went down with injuries showed a glimpse of what the Knicks can become when they are fully healthy.
With Anunoby seamlessly integrating himself between Randle’s bulldozing game and Jalen Brunson’s playmaking and shotmaking, the Knicks soared to a 12-2 record with the best defense and top-9 offense in those 14 games.
Anunoby, who switched from Klutch Sports to Creative Artists Agency in anticipation of his pending free agency, has the leverage over the Knicks despite the question marks on his durability.
“He will try to break the bank there,” an Eastern Conference GM told Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney on March 20. “Why not? They can’t afford to lose him. Not a max deal or anything, but I think from his side, it is going to look more like $40 million per year, something like four years and $160 million.”
OG Anunoby Remains Out
After the Knicks announced Randle’s season-ending surgery, the focus now shifts to Anunoby’s recovery from an inflammation on his surgically repaired elbow.
Anunoby will miss his 9th straight game when the Knicks host the Sacramento Kings in a crucial home game this Thursday, April 4, at Madison Square Garden before a brutal 4-game road trip. While the MRI did not show new structural damage, there is a growing concern about Anunoby’s durability.
Anunoby has never played more than 70 games since his rookie year when he saw action in 74 games.
“Now Anunoby’s notorious fragility is very much New York’s problem, and a bigger one than the Knicks could have probably fathomed. It is a sad thing to say because, in a lot of ways, Anunoby has been a perfect acquisition in the sport’s self-proclaimed mecca,” Toronto Star columnist Dave Feschuk wrote on March 25.
Josh Hart Braces for Knicks Playoff Run Undermanned
Josh Hart already hinted about this grim scenario of Randle and Anunoby not returning this season.
“I’m looking at it like this is the team we’re going to have,” Hart told reporters after their March 31 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. “I think that’s how we have to approach it. That those guys aren’t coming back and we’ll be pleasantly surprised if they come back.”
Exacerbating the Knicks’ injury woes, Hart (sprained right wrist and illness) and Mitchell Robinson (left ankle injury management) are questionable to play against the Kings.
With seven games left, the Knicks are one game behind the third-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers but they are also just two games out of the play-in tournament.
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