Arron Afflalo Opts Out of Knicks Contract: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction

Shooting guard Arron Afflalo’s one and only season with the New York Knicks was filled with ups and downs, but he will likely lace it up elsewhere in 2016-17 after he reportedly opted out of his contract Tuesday.  

Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops and the Associated Press first reported the news, while Ian Begley of ESPN.com confirmed the report, adding that Derrick Williams will also opt out of his deal. The moves will give the Knicks "more than $30 million in cap space," per Begley.

This comes after Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News said in April that Afflalo was “likely to opt out” of that contract. Bondy detailed some of the drama that surrounded the UCLA product in 2015-16, much of which stemmed from interim head coach Kurt Rambis’ decision to bench him for Sasha Vujacic in March because the latter “brought more energy to the lineup.”

Afflalo said Rambis never met with him to discuss the demotion even though the interim coach told the media the two sides did speak about it.

There is a silver lining for the Knicks that comes with the loss of Afflalo. Matt Citak of SNY.tv noted Afflalo’s decision to decline his $8 million player option means New York will have “enough cap space to go after a max free agent in an offseason where Kevin Durant, DeMar DeRozan, Mike Conley Jr. and Dwight Howard will all be available.”

Any of those options would be a much-needed boost for a Knicks squad coming off a 32-50 campaign.

As for Afflalo, he suffered a hamstring strain and missed the first eight games of the season (and most of training camp). According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, team president Phil Jackson “alluded to Afflalo as a player who may have fallen victim to fatigue because of the heavy workload, indicating he may see him more as a backup next season.”

That mindset probably didn’t click with Afflalo since he said, “I still believe I’m one of the premier 2-guards in this league and part of being an elite 2-guard in this league is opportunity,” per Bondy.

While Afflalo will chase a starting role in 2016-17, he will no longer be teammates with Carmelo Anthony. Berman said the two have “an easy relationship” that goes back to their tenure together with the Denver Nuggets.

Afflalo entered the league as a first-round pick of the Detroit Pistons in 2007. He has played for Detroit, the Nuggets (during two separate stints), the Orlando Magic, the Portland Trail Blazers and New York throughout his career.

The shooting guard is an offensive threat who averaged double figures in the scoring department every season since 2010-11. At his peak for the Magic in 2013-14, he posted 18.2 points a night. Afflalo is a dangerous three-point shooter who shot better than 40 percent from deep four different times in his career:

Season	Team	Points	Three-Point Percentage
2007-08	Detroit Pistons	3.7	20.8
2008-09	Detroit Pistons	4.9	40.2
2009-10	Denver Nuggets	8.8	43.4
2010-11	Denver Nuggets	12.6	42.3
2011-12	Denver Nuggets	15.2	39.8
2012-13	Orlando Magic	16.5	30
2013-14	Orlando Magic	18.2	42.7
2014-15	Denver Nuggets/Portland Trail Blazers	13.3	35.4
2015-16	New York Knicks	12.8	38.2

He will be 31 years old at the start of the 2016-17 season. While his prime may be in the past, he was still a solid contributor for the Knicks when given the opportunity and earned the designation as the 17th-best free agent “who actually will be available this offseason” in a countdown from Adi Joseph of Sporting News.

Afflalo is versatile enough to play shooting guard or small forward, and Joseph pointed to his tendency to occasionally score from the post in addition to his outside shot.

He is also a solid perimeter defender who can match up with guards or small forwards and held opponents to shooting percentages of 0.5 percent worse than their normal averages from beyond 15 feet in 2015-16, per NBA.com. 

Between his capable defense, his outside shot and his ability to play multiple positions, Afflalo still has plenty to offer a team this coming season. That team just won’t be the Knicks.