Philadelphia 76ers could make OG Anunoby a massive offer to force Knicks’ hand

OG Anunoby, Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks

The New York Knicks traded for OG Anunoby ahead of the NBA trade deadline, and they got 31 games out of the former Toronto Raptors forward. But now the star two-way swingman has a $19.9 million player option that allows him to enter the open market as an unrestricted free agent.

After helping the Knicks become one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, the soon-to-be 27-year-old forward is expected to have a strong market for his services this summer.

Anunoby has until June 24th to decide whether he wants to be underpaid as a Knick next season or renegotiate his contract as a free agent with New York or any of the other 29 NBA franchises.

Anunoby is eligible to sign a four-year, $117 extension, but not until June 30th. Yet, the only way he can sign that specific extension with the Knicks is if he opts into his existing player option, which isn’t happening because he’s worth so much more.

Once he officially becomes a free agent, Anunoby will be eligible to sign a max contract for five years and $245 million. Some expectations are for Anunoby to command a salary worth roughly $35 million per season. Both would be a steep incline over the $19.9 million Anunoby is currently set to make if he shockingly opts into his contract.

But one New York insider says there’s another team that may be closely monitoring Anunoby this offseason.

Philadelphia 76ers could drive OG Anunoby’s price up

SNY’s NBA insider Ian Begley believes the Philadelphia 76ers could make life difficult on the Knicks this offseason by presenting Anunoby with a very strong offer in free agency.

Meanwhile, Yahoo’s Jake Fischer agreed that, despite the Knicks’ interest in retaining Anunoby, there’s a current belief that other teams have a legitimate chance to lure him away from New York this summer.

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