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Sure, the pursuit of outside free agents gets all the attention these days, but we mustn’t forget that the Knicks have some players of their own on the cusp of free agency. Two such dudes are point guard Emmanuel Mudiay and big man Luke Kornet. Both could remain restricted free agents if the Knicks tender them a qualifying offer, but it appears the front office has no intention of doing so, per Chris Haynes.
New York Knicks will not extend a qualifying offer to Emmanuel Mudiay, making him an unrestricted free agent, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 27, 2019
New York Knicks will also not extend a qualifying offer to Luke Kornet and he will hit unrestricted free agency, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 27, 2019
Does this mean Mud and the UniKornet are gone forever? Not necessarily, says Haynes, who also mentioned that the Knicks might be interested in bringing back...uh, Mudiay?
Knicks forced to renounce to open up cap room. There’s mutual interest in Mudiay returning, but for now, a quality point guard hits the market coming off a career-high 14.8 points per game. https://t.co/IQb8cPT1nZ
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 27, 2019
Mudiay’s cap hold is reportedly $12.9 million, and there was no way the Knicks are bringing him back at that much money. But perhaps the front office truly is intrigued by a Mud reunion.
Lord, I hope not. Mudiay got some buckets with the Knicks last season, and probably earned himself a spot on somebody’s roster, but the defense was generally a disaster area whenever he was on the court.
Kornet, on the other hand, is somebody I would like to bring back. He can’t hit a two-point shot to save his life, but he’s a league-average volume three-point shooting (36.3% on 4.2 attempts in just 17.0 minutes per game) who can protect the rim a bit. That has value.
Make the right choice, Knicks. Bring back Kornet!