Tim Hardaway Jr. has signed a four-year offer sheet with the New York Knicks, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical.
Atlanta RFA Tim Hardaway Jr. has signed a four-year offer sheet with the New York Knicks, league sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 7, 2017
The news was also reported by Ian Begley and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who have more details on the offer and what may come next:
Restricted Atlanta Hawks free agent Tim Hardaway Jr. has signed a four-year, $71 million offer sheet with the New York Knicks, league sources told ESPN.
Hardaway, a 25-year-old shooting guard, has spent the past two seasons in Atlanta after spending his first two in New York.
The Hawks will have two days to match the offer. which contains a 15 percent trade kicker and a player option in the fourth year, per ESPN sources.
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New York, under then team president Phil Jackson, traded Hardaway on draft night in 2015 in exchange for the rights to point guard Jerian Grant.
Hardaway thrived offensively but struggled at times on defense in New York, which selected him in the first round of the 2013 NBA draft.
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He has become a more well-rounded player with the Hawks, who transformed him by initially benching him and sending him to the NBA’s D-League. Hardaway eventually developed into a key rotation player for Atlanta and started games for the club late in the regular season and in the playoffs.
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said retaining Hardaway was a priority for Atlanta entering the offseason.
If the Hawks elect not to match the offer sheet, Hardaway will return to New York, which would then face a decision with incumbent shooting guard Courtney Lee.
Lee, a nine-year veteran, has three years remaining on the four-year, $52 million contract he signed with the Knicks as a free agent last season.
The Atlanta Hawks have until Saturday to match the contract of the restricted free agent.
Hardaway Jr. was drafted by the Knicks in 2013 and spent the past two seasons with the Hawks.
During the 2016-17 season, Hardaway Jr. averaged career highs in points (14.5), rebounds (2.8), assists (2.3) and threes (1.9) while shooting 45.5 percent from the field.
And his growth continued following the midseason trade of Kyle Korver to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Over the final 32 games of the regular season, Hardaway Jr. averaged 18.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 32.3 minutes.
