With the 2022-23 season coming ever so closer to an end, we figured it would be fun to take a look at some of the horrid mistakes of front office past to make fans feel a little happier about the current direction of the Knicks.
As moderately successful as the Knicks have been in recent seasons, the franchise’s history is muddled in horrific mistakes and mismanagement whether it be in the form of trades, or in this case, free agent signings.
While in some years the Knicks have struck gold in the free agent market, especially as of late with Jalen Brunson and how fantastic he’s been, there are no doubts that New York is responsible for some of the worst, and outright funniest free agent mistakes of all time.
Here are seven of the worst free agent signings in Knicks history:
7. Chris Childs, 6 years, $24 million
While this deal is certainly not as devastating as some of the other signings we will talk about, it certainly isn’t a good one. Chris Childs was certainly a solid backup point guard for his time, but looking at his production compared to his paycheck just doesn’t add up.
In today’s era, an average salary of $4 million a season is borderline nothing. In fact, this is the kind of price Donte DiVincenzo, a much better player than Childs really ever was, is currently charging for the Golden State Warriors. However, back when Childs first signed this deal, $4 million meant a lot more against the cap.
During his tenure in New York, Childs averaged just 6.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game while shooting 41.7% from the field and 35.8% from three on 1.7 attempts. These numbers are not horrific, but certainly not worth the money he was making at the time.
Honestly, Childs is remembered more for his legendary right hook on the late Kobe Bryant than his actual play for the Knicks, which speaks levels considering that he played for some pretty competitive teams.
Again, not the most devastating deal in team history, but certainly nowhere near a good one. Think of this more as an honorable mention to smoothly transition into some of the worse deals in team history.