Report: Knicks fell $7 million short of Immanuel Quickley's demands

There is nothing new in telling you Immanuel Quickley is one of the best New York Knicks players doing it in Manhattan these days.

There is nothing new in telling you Immanuel Quickley is coming off a season in which he should have won the Sixth Man of the Year award.

And of course, there is nothing you in telling you Immanuel Quickley will enter next summer as a restricted free agent as he’s currently playing under the final year of his rookie-scale contract.

All of the above said, there is nothing new to report on the IQ-NYK front, courtesy of Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

According to Scotto, in a very detailed and comprehensive breakdown of all 30 teams and where things stand for each of them in terms of their top trade candidates, the Knicks lowballed Quickley last October and ended up in a dangerous situation.

“Quickley was offered around $18 million per year in extension talks,” Scotte wrote citing league sources passing that information to HoopsHype.

The same sources told HoopsHype that Quickley “was looking for closer to $25 million annually,” something the Knicks clearly were not going to pay for their no. 1 off-the-pine weapon judging by the reported offer they submitted IQ, around $7 million separated from Quickley’s demands.

Interestingly, an NBA executive is quoted in Scotto’s piece saying Quickley “might be New York’s best trade asset besides Jalen Brunson.”

With Brunson and Quickley sharing the same position, it’s reasonable (to an extent) for the Knicks to pass on giving their backup as much money—if not more, judging by the last reports—than their actual starter at the position and potential All-Star as soon as next February.

Scotto reported that “rival teams are monitoring whether Immanuel Quickley will become available on the trade market” after both sides couldn’t agree to an extension before October’s deadline.

If he’s included in a trade, Quickley would account for only $4.1 million, which doesn’t align at all with his production. That means that in the most probable scenarios, the Knicks would have to pair Quickley with Evan Fournier’s expiring $18.8 million contract or any of the other high-salaried players in New York’s roster (Randle at $28.2 or Barrett at $23.8) to get trade conversations going if they try to land another superstar inked to a hefty contract.

The Knicks aren’t expected to move Quickley before we get closer to the trade deadline—if at all—and no NBA teams will probably entertain getting into serious trade discussions before Dec. 15 (when free agents signed to contracts last summer become eligible to be traded) and /or Jan. 15 (re-signed players who got a raise of at least 20% and whose franchise used the Bird or Early Bird rights on them).