One Knicks player not expected to be back next season

The New York Knicks have a likely departure on their hands.

Knicks big man Precious Achiuwa is not expected to be back with the Knicks this summer, Steve Popper of Newsday reported over the weekend. Achiuwa is about to become an unrestricted free agent and is seen as the Knicks player who is “most likely” to leave.

Popper further notes that there has been mutual dissatisfaction between Achiuwa and the Knicks with their partnership.

“Achiuwa seemed to be most likely to be gone among players who were contributors this season, not signing back with the Knicks last summer until all other options were exhausted,” Popper writes. “But there was a dissatisfaction with playing time under [former head coach Tom] Thibodeau — and the coaching staff having equal dissatisfaction about the defense and consistency provided by Achiuwa.”

The 25-year-old Achiuwa was acquired by the Knicks as part of the OG Anunoby-RJ Barrett trade in 2023 but has not quite been a reliable contributor ever since then. He averaged 6.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in 20.5 minutes per game this season but became an afterthought (including in the playoffs) once Mitchell Robinson was healthy again.

Achiuwa only got 34 total minutes during the Knicks’ Eastern Conference Finals run (mostly in mop-up time) and now may be intent on finding a bigger role with a new team. The Knicks will probably be content with letting Achiuwa (who is also undersized at 6-foot-8) walk too, and they already recently have been linked to a multi-time All-Star big man in free agency.