After Hawks restricted free agent Tim Hardaway Jr. Report: Hawks' Tim Hardaway Jr. signs Knicks' four-year, $71M offer sheet from the New York Knicks, both New York's media and fans are stunned. The departure of Phil Jackson was supposed to prevent this exact thing from happening. Hardaway Jr. has improved, but there are some nerves regarding the overwhelming amount of money thrown at the guard. The result? More mockery surrounding the once-proud New York franchise:
The Knicks, of course, are no strangers to Hardaway Jr. To fans, $71 million likely feels like an exorbitant number for a guy that's never played more than 28 minutes per game. The Knicks, however, are hedging their bets that Hardaway Jr. will improve upon his career-best 2016 season, in which he averaged a career-high 14.5 points per game and 2.3 assists per game.
The NYDN's Frank Isola speculated that the move was made out of necessity by GM Steve Mills, who is allegedly trying to advance to the position of team president that was, of course, recently vacated by the Zen Master Jackson himself. The Knicks were quiet in free agency to this point, which makes this offer all the more confusing. Knicks fans, as you can see above, are not thrilled about the deal.
