Knicks not extending qualifying offer to winter trade acquisition
Precious Achiuwa
The Knicks opted not to extend a $6.3M qualifying offer to Precious Achiuwa, league sources tell Fred Katz of The Athletic. The decision means the 24-year-old big man will be unrestricted when he enters free agency on Sunday.
New York hasn’t ruled out re-signing Achiuwa, Katz adds, but the team didn’t want to risk the possibility of having him quickly accept the QO, which would have affected its hard cap situation as it tries to work out the details of the trade to acquire Mikal Bridges from Brooklyn.
The Knicks acquired Achiuwa in late December as part of the OG Anunoby deal. He wound up playing a significant role amid long-term injuries to Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson and others. Achiuwa appeared in 49 games after the trade, making 18 starts and averaging 7.6 points and 7.2 assists in 24.2 minutes per night.
The Knicks have picked up their $2M team option on Jericho Sims for next season, a source tells Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. The backup center still only has a $651K partial guarantee on his $2.09M salary, with trigger dates in July and August. Sims, who has spent the past three seasons with New York, will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
The team has declined DaQuan Jeffries‘ $2.5M option, Katz passes along. Jeffries, who saw action in 17 games, will become an unrestricted free agent on Sunday.
The Knicks extended a qualifying offer to two-way forward Jacob Toppin, making him a restricted free agent, Katz notes. However, two-way players Duane Washington Jr. and Charlie Brown Jr. did not receive QOs.
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