A new report from a New York Knicks insider should give fans hope they will be able to run it back with the key parts of this season’s team in 2024-25.
This will be a very interesting offseason for the New York Knicks. The team has become one of the best in the Eastern Conference and is now becoming a preferred destination for many players around the league. They have a boatload of trade assets to make a blockbuster deal and will have three picks in the top 38 of this month’s NBA Draft.
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However, they also have two very important players from this past season who will hit the free-agent market in a few weeks. OG Anunoby — an integral part of their second-half surge — is expected to opt out of his deal and have many suitors in free agency, including the Philadelphia 76ers. While center Isaiah Hartenstein is viewed as the top player in his position available this summer.
That is why it is far from a guarantee both will be back in orange and blue next season. However, despite serious competition, SNY Knicks insider Ian Begley gave New York fans hope both will be back in a column on Thursday.
“One thing worth noting on both Anunoby and Hartenstein: The Knicks know that both players will garner strong interest from opposing teams. But even factoring that in, members of the organization felt earlier in the offseason that they were in a good place on both Anunoby and Hartenstein as both approach their free agencies,” Begley wrote. “That’s according to people in touch with the team after their season ended in a second-round loss to Indiana.”
So how much would it cost the New York Knicks to re-sign Anunoby and Hartenstein? Begley expects the organization to offer the talented 3-and-D specialist a five-year max deal worth $245 million. When it comes to the big man, the highest the franchise can go — and likely will — is four years and $72.5 million.
