Setting the Market

OG's former teammate is staying with Indiana. Does it mean anything for Anunoby? Plus, running through some reader questions on trade targets.

Good morning! We got our first big news item of the offseason yesterday, albeit one that was expected. Might it have some impact on the Knicks’ negotiations in the coming days and weeks? More on that below, plus I assess three possible acquisitions for New York this summer.

News & Notes

🏀 According to Woj, unrestricted free agent forward Pascal Siakam will be back with the Pacers on a four-year, $189.5 million max deal that he’ll sign as soon as the free agency moratorium ends on July 6.

Couple notes of interest…

Indiana had the ability to go to a fifth season, but didn’t. This is a straight four-year deal without any options.

If we rank every potential realistic contract possibility from most player friendly (five-year max with a fifth year player option) to the most team friendly (four-year max, team option for the fourth season), this skews closer to the team friendly end.

Is it still a ton of money? You betcha. This eventual endpoint is why the Raptors traded him in the first place, especially considering the middling return they got (Bruce Brown, two bad firsts and a ‘26 first that doesn’t figure to be much better).

They’re not alone though. A lot of teams probably wouldn’t have interest in paying nearly $50 million a season for a 30-year-old Siakam. But he’s also made two All-NBA teams and just had a fairly outstanding playoff run, often looking like Indy’s best player. In short, it’s a fair deal. The question now is whether this has any impact on the market for another former Raptor forward whose current status is up in the air.

I wrote a lot of words about OG Anunoby yesterday, so I won’t belabor the point, but like Siakam, he’s in a pretty darn good negotiating position for his next contract as well. As a front office person recently told Fred Katz, “he’s got the Knicks by the balls.”