The New York Knicks just won the OG Anunoby trade all over again. And this time, it has little to do with Anunoby himself.
When the Knicks moved Immanuel Quickley as part of that deal, they were making a calculated decision, one in which this front office is intimately familiar with making: that Quickley would not make sense for this team on his next contract.
Oh, how right they were.
Just ask the Toronto Raptors, who signed him to a five-year, $162.5 million contract—and are now struggling to trade him.
Immanuel Quickley has turned into a negative asset on his current contract
Writing for The Stein Line, Jake Fischer reports that Toronto has attempted to engage at least two teams on a Quickley trade: The Atlanta Hawks, and Sacramento Kings. The Raptors were apparently among the teams interested in Trae Young before he was shipped to the Washington Wizards. They also sniffed around Domantas Sabonis.
In either case, it seems, the Quickley contract was a deal-breaker. It’s hard to blame the Hawks or Kings for getting cold feet.
Though IQ’s deal is a flat $32.5 million per year moving forward, it goes on for another three seasons, and averages out to 18.7 percent of the salary cap. While the peak version of him features off-the-dribble and spot-up shooting, some paint pressure when the floater is falling, and frenzied defensive activity, he has another three years and $97.5 million remaining on that deal after 2025-26.
That is a lot to pay for a guard who can’t be your primary playmaker. It becomes even steeper when he’s battled injuries (until this season), when he’s seen his defensive value take a dip, and when his three-point efficiency has slipped as well.
The Knicks dodged a setback of epic proportions
There is an alternate universe in which the Knicks are playing the part of the Raptors, and are stuck with an exorbitant contract that cannot be moved as positive value. Sure, they clearly had their reservations about Quickley. That’s why he wasn’t extended in the first place. (Well that, and some dude Jalen Brunson exists.)
Still, had New York never moved Quickley, it may have been compelled to pay him in restricted free agency, all with the hope of preserving an asset. This approach would have been reasonable at that moment. But it would have looked disastrous now.
Fortunately for the Knicks, they strategically, if masterfully, avoided the fallout. It isn't just that they made the deal at all. It's the timing. They jettisoned IQ at the peak of his value, back when people were actually wondering whether he was the best player in that deal.
So much for that. And while Anunoby is now pricey himself, he’s helped New Yoork win the trade many times over with his impact alone. He is by far its second-most important player, and is outplaying not only Quickley, but also RJ Barrett.
More than two years removed from it all, though, the Knicks are emerging as winners not only because of who they got, but because of what they avoided: a contract that could have kneecapped their ability to build the title contender they have now.