Knicks’ risky OG Anunoby megadeal isn’t a $213 million outlier anymore

There’s a new metric by which to measure the OG Anunoby contract. Put another way: hundreds of millions isn’t what it used to be.

The context is the deal freshly agreed upon Friday by Immanuel Quickley, a point guard Knicks fans are certainly familiar with. He’s slated to earn, a league source confirmed, $175 million over five years with the Toronto Raptors. That’s for a player whose greatest NBA accomplishment, with all due respect to that 38-point gem against the Celtics in 2023, is finishing runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year.

Why is this relevant to Anunoby?

The Knicks traded Quickley for Anunoby. They traded Quickley, in part, because they didn’t want to pay him such a massive sum. They had their chance for a long-term deal before last season, and then allowed the October deadline to pass without an agreement. Back then, the rumors had Quickley desiring $125 million. He gambled on himself — and the circumstances of the booming NBA salaries — before receiving an additional $50 million.

Anunoby, meanwhile, recently agreed to a hefty five years, $213 million. It sounds daunting considering Anunoby’s injury history, a long list of ailments that has kept him off the court for some of his most important games — including the entire 2019 championship run with the Raptors.

We don’t know if there are any options or games played stipulations in Anunoby’s new contract. Those details probably won’t be uncovered until it’s official. But the initial sticker shock of that Anunoby deal — the biggest contract in Knicks history — has been eased by the comparables.