The New York Knicks have enough cap space to hand out a max contract. The question is, which free agents are actually worth giving max money to?
The New York Knicks received powerful financial news on Tuesday, June 21. Embattled shooting guard Arron Afflalo and fan favorite Derrick Williams turned down their respective player options, thus elevating the Knicks’ cap space to upwards of $30 million.
Other teams will have more money to spend, but the Knicks suddenly have enough money to offer a max contract with.
For as intriguing a possibility as this may be, it must be noted that there aren’t many players worthy of a max contract in 2016. Some will be paid based on their market value—relative to the 2016 competition, and not next year’s class of free agents—but the Knicks must be cautious.
According to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv, head coach Jeff Hornacek stated unequivocally that the Knicks are interested in signing a player to a max contract.
Hornacek on chances of Knicks adding a max player in FA: "Oh, absolutely."
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) June 10, 2016
That’s both an intriguing and dangerous development.
For players with up to six years of NBA experience, a max contract would start at $22 million per season. Players with seven to nine years of NBA experience can make a starting salary of $26.4 million per season.
Players with at least 10 years of NBA experience are eligible to make $30.8 million in the first year of their new contract.
That’s a startling amount of money to be thrown around, and it’s something that should both excite and frighten the Knicks. It all sounds good on paper, but even with a rising salary cap, New York must be cautious about which players it offers big money to.
The question is, which players are actually worthy of a max contract in 2016?
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