Ron Baker broke the news of his own deal to return to the Knicks on the first day of free agency.
Since, New York renounced him to clear cap space for Tim Hardaway Jr. But, always intent on re-signing Baker, it seems the Knicks have reached terms with the second-year guard.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
Restricted free agent Ron Baker's deal to stay with the Knicks: Two-years, $8.9M, including a player option, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 11, 2017
This sounds like the room exception, which would pay up to $8,872,400 over two years. That’d leave the Knicks with nothing other than minimum contracts to offer free agents.
Obviously, New York isn’t done. A Carmelo Anthony trade is a big wildcard.
But the Knicks continue to lose flexibility as they lock up limited guards.
The 24-year-old Baker, who went undrafted last year, is a fine hustle player. When not too overmatched athletically (not the most common situation), he’s a defensive pest. The combo guard has shown neither enough 3-point shooting nor playmaking, though he’s close enough on both to warrant hope.
An overpay, but not necessarily a drastic one, this is the best contract of the (second) Steve Mills era.