11 Player signings the New York Knicks never should’ve made

6. Jared Jeffries lands a five-year, $30M deal with the New York Knicks in 2006

So far on this list, there have been a few guys that landed lucrative deals with the New York Knicks almost as a “thank you.” Both Patrick Ewing and Carmelo Anthony fall into that category. Yes, they were overpaid, but they did something beforehand to earn it.

In 2006, the Knicks were handing out free money to guys who didn’t necessarily deserve it. That summer, New York signed Jared Jeffries to a five-year, $30 million contract. That’s $6 million annually to a guy that averaged just 6.1 points per game in his first four seasons with the Washington Wizards. To put that in perspective, LeBron James signed a four-year, $60 million extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers. So, New York valued Jeffries at about half of LeBron.

What’d the Knicks think they were going to get here? In the spring before he joined the Knicks, Jeffries had a decent-sized role with the Wizards in their first-round series against the James-led Cavaliers. The forward averaged 8.0 points in 35.8 minutes per game.

Even those numbers don’t justify the payday the Knicks handed the 24-year-old.

Jeffries posted worse numbers with New York through his first few years with the franchise before he was eventually offloaded to the Houston Rockets at the 2010 NBA trade deadline. Oddly enough, he returned to the Knicks that summer on a minimum contract — which sounds a bit more appropriate — and spent an additional two seasons in orange and blue.

In case there was any doubt, no, the Knicks did not manage to sneak into the playoffs while paying Jeffries $6 million per season.