The New York Knicks ended their season Tuesday night with a loss to the Indiana Pacers, and they are likely just happy it is over. The Knicks showed some improvement over last year, but still enter the offseason with a lot of uncertainty surrounding the franchise.
Of course there's the whole Phil Jackson situation and the head coaching search, but the most important thing is making roster improvements. The Knicks hope to be active in free agency to try and lure a big time free agent to the Big Apple, but they will need to do some maneuvering so they have cap room to make that happen.
One of the things that needs to happen is for Arron Afflalo to opt out of the final year of his contract. This past offseason, Afflalo signed a two-year $16 million deal with the Knicks, but that second year is a player option worth $8 million. It seems likely, at this point, that Afflalo will opt out of that year for a myriad of reasons.
On the one hand, Afflalo has not been happy coming off the bench for the Knicks. The 30-year-old guard started for the majority of the season, but came off the bench regularly at the end of the year. Afflalo still believes he is a premier two-guard in the NBA and wants to go somewhere he can excel and get the minutes he feels he deserves.
Afflalo may be able to earn himself more money on the open market due to the salary cap rising, but he is mistaken when he says he is a premier shooting guard. When you think of the top shooting guards, you think of guys like Jimmy Butler, DeMar DeRozan and Dwyane Wade among others. Afflalo is a good scorer and a decent two-way player, but he isn't anything special and is coming off of two straight down years.
Last season, between Denver and Portland, Afflalo had a PER of 10.7, which is below average, and this year his PER was 10.9. The former UCLA star has his moments where he can take over a game on offense, but the Knicks would be better served with Afflalo opting out, especially considering his demands. If Afflalo does opt out, it allows the Knicks to focus on going after a point guard like Mike Conley in free agency considering they would have the cap room. Conley to the Knicks is a long shot, but at least with Afflalo likely moving on, it opens up the Knicks options a bit and gets an unhappy player out of the locker room.
