Two days after OG Anunoby chose to forego the last year of his previous contract, he and the New York Knicks reached an agreement on a five-year, $212.5 million contract on Wednesday.
Less than an hour before the start of the NBA draft on Wednesday, The Athletic and ESPN revealed the terms of the contracts.
Anunoby is still with the Knicks despite Mikal Bridges being acquired by the team in exchange for many draft picks from the Brooklyn Nets. Bridges is set to become a free agent on Sunday when the NBA trade deadline opens.
Anunoby signed a four-year, $72 million deal with the Toronto Raptors in 2020 with a player option for the 2024-25 season, but he declined the $19.9 million salary for next season to set up the massive contract agreement Wednesday.
Results were indisputable with Anunoby on the court in New York: the Knicks were 20-3 in games he played after the trade from Toronto that sent RJ Barrett to the Raptors.
Health is the biggest question mark on Anunoby’s resume. He missed 76 total games the past three seasons due to injuries and did not play during Toronto’s NBA title run in 2019 following an emergency appendectomy.
Anunoby turns 27 next month. He averaged 14.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game last season in 50 total regular-season games with the Raptors (27 games) and Knicks.
During the 2024 playoffs, Anunoby went from an essential cog in beating the Philadelphia 76ers to attempting to fight through a hamstring injury in the seven-game series with the Indiana Pacers.
In 418 career games, Anunoby has averaged 12.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.3 steals during his first seven NBA seasons.
