With NBA free agency starting on Sunday, June 30 at 6 p.m., teams and players had until the end of the day Saturday to finalize option decisions and the Knicks decided not to extend the qualifying offer to Precious Achiuwa, making the forward an unrestricted free agent.
SNY’s Ian Begley reports the decision was made to give the team financial flexibility and that the Knicks can still execute a sign and trade with Achiuwa, which would get them out from under the first apron hard cap. Achiuwa was traded to the Knicks from the Toronto Raptors in the same deal that brought OG Anunoby to New York. However, Achiuwa played a big part in bolstering the Knicks bench.
The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 7.6 points and 6.6 rebounds last season.
Although the Knicks didn’t extend the qualifying offer to Achiuwa, the Knicks have not ruled out bringing him back. SNY’s Ian Begley says the Knicks can still execute a sign and trade with Achiuwa that would get them out from under the first apron hard cap.
The Knicks did pick up the team option on Jericho Sims, according to multiple reports, and also extended the two-way qualifying offer to Jacob Toppin.
Sims’ contract is non-guaranteed, while Toppin will become a restricted free agent.
New York did not extend a two-way qualifying offer to Duane Washington Jr. and declined DaQuan Jeffries‘ team option for 2024-25.
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