The 7 Worst free agent signings in New York Knicks history

5. Jared Jeffries, 5 years, $24 million

Similar to the Childs contract, this deal was not devastating to the Knicks’ hopes of success. However, what makes this deal bad is that it was just another example of former Knicks GM Isiah Thomas severely overpaying for a role player.

Jeffries was a solid defensive big man for his time, however, a nearly $5 million price tag every season for his skill set is quite atrocious. During his three-and-a-half seasons in the Big Apple, Jeffries averaged just 4.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game while shooting an atrocious 43.4% from the field.

Honestly, seeing a 6’11 big man who took over 90% of his shots at the rim shoot below 50% on said attempts is hilarious. Obviously, offense wasn’t the reason Jeffries had a 10-year career, but it still isn’t good.

We’ll give Jeffries some props for being loyal to the soil for the Knicks considering that when they traded him to the Rockets, he was subsequently released, and would sign back with New York not even a week after the deal went through. However, the original contract Jeffries signed was just incredibly poor value for the player the Knicks got in return.