Knicks Rumors: OG Anunoby, Tom Thibodeau, Isaiah Hartenstein

The New York Knicks ended the season with little more than injuries to their brightest stars and a Game 7 loss to the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden.

Thanks to both, they got no further than last season.

When healthy, the Knicks remain full of promise. They even did pretty well despite the season-ending injuries to first Julius Randle, then Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic. Then came Game 7, when they were already getting hammered at home, and lost all-everything guard Jalen Brunson to a broken hand to boot.

Now, there are some big decisions to make — but mostly, for the Knicks, staying healthy and together will be the plan that could take them places in 2024-25.

• Forward OG Anunoby was among the NBA’s greatest in-season finds before the trade deadline, acquired from the Toronto Raptors in December. Though he too battled plenty of injuries, the Knicks went 26-6 with him on the court. He has a player option on his contract and is expected to opt out — but will likely be back on a larger, longer deal.
• Per Mark Deeks of HoopsHype: “If immediate money does need to be saved, it is not a coincidence that trade deadline acquisition Bojan Bogdanovic has a de facto team option on his $19,032,850 2024-25 salary that can be cut for a mere $2 million.
• Deeks added: “Beyond Anunoby, center Isaiah Hartenstein will also enter free agency off the back of his impressive season, and while the contracts of Brunson and Randle are all secure for next season, they are also all extension-eligible this summer. In total, then, the Knicks might find themselves committing several hundred million dollars in player salary this summer even before any external acquisitions. Such is the side effect of compiling a quality roster.”
• Meanwhile, coach Tom Thibodeau is likely in line for a contract extension, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “That’s something that my agent will take care of,” Thibodeau told reporters. “The Knicks have been great to me. So this is where I want to be.”
• Guard/forward Josh Hart, for one, said he’s a Thibodeau fan. “Obviously I’m not too up to speed on what it was before [Thibodeau] was here, but he’s been Coach of the Year [in 2021], got this team to the playoffs, got this team to the second round, and, barring injuries, could have gone further,” Hart said, via Bondy. “So I think you’re seeing the foundation that he’s built, but we know getting to be a championship team is not flipping a switch and one season you just get there.”

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