Knicks Bring Back Precious

Another good piece of business by Leon Rose and the Knicks front office.

The Knicks, desperate for a backup center, signed the best big man remaining on the free agent market.

New York announced Tuesday afternoon that it had re-signed Precious Achiuwa. Multiple reports indicate that it's a one-year deal worth $6 million and that Achiuwa waived his no-trade clause as part of the pact. That's an important point, and we'll get to it in a bit, but let's first focus on Achiuwa's return.

As we frequently discussed over the past few weeks following Isaiah Hartenstein's departure, the Knicks' lack of depth up front was deeply concerning. On a roster teeming with talent at all other positions, New York could not enter the 20245-25 campaign relying solely on injury-prone Mitchell Robinson. 

Yet, one by one, serviceable free-agent big men began finding homes elsewhere, and the number of quality options available had essentially dwindled down to one. Thus, Knicks fans were nervously hoping that Achiuwa, a New York kid who attended high school at Our Savior Lutheran in the Bronx, would return to the Big Apple. They got their wish yesterday.