JULY 19: Gibson has officially signed with the Wizards, per NBA.com’s transactions log.
JULY 10: Gibson has cleared waivers and agreed to a one-year contract with the Wizards, his agent Mark Bartelstein tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Gibson will receive a minimum-salary deal, tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic.
JULY 8, 4:35pm: Gibson intends to sign with the Wizards once he clears waivers, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). He’ll provide Washington with some additional frontcourt depth following the free agent departure of Thomas Bryant.
JULY 8, 3:59pm: The Knicks have officially waived big man Taj Gibson, the team announced today in a press release. He’ll clear waivers on Sunday, assuming he goes unclaimed.
Gibson, 37, appeared in 52 games for the Knicks last season, averaging 4.4 PPG and 4.4 RPG in 18.2 minutes per contest. He has long been a Tom Thibodeau favorite, having also played for the Knicks’ head coach in Chicago and Minnesota.
Gibson signed a two-year contract with the Knicks during the 2021 offseason, but his second-year salary of $5,155,500 for 2022/23 was non-guaranteed. By cutting him, New York will avoid being on the hook for any of that money.
In addition to waiving Gibson, New York has renounced Ryan Arcidiacono‘s free agent rights, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link). The two moves are strong signals that the Knicks intend to go under the cap in order to complete their reported signings of Jalen Brunson, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Jericho Sims, rather than remaining over the cap by acquiring Brunson via sign-and-trade.
If the Knicks had been able to turn their Alec Burks/Nerlens Noel trade with Detroit into a three-team deal involving Dallas and Brunson, they could theoretically have used their mid-level exception to sign Hartenstein and Sims, retaining a $9MM+ trade exception and the $4.1MM bi-annual exception. However, clearing cap room for their signings is the simplest path, and will leave them with the $5.4MM room exception available.
As for Gibson, there’s a chance he could re-sign with the Knicks once he clears waivers, though a few other teams have expressed interest in him, notes Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
Clippers make sense need a vet big
Miami?
GSW?
Bulls can bring him back…
As much as Thibs loves him, I don’t see him coming back. Even if Robinson gets hurt again, you have Hartenstein and Sims. I don’t know if having four centers (though Sims is listed at PF) on the roster makes any sense.
A little surprised DAL didn’t push for a S&T (who wouldn’t want a 24 mm TPE), or maybe they did, just not hard enough. NYK were never going to be that motivated once they opened up cap space. They don’t need it to bring Taj back.
Celtics backup for Robert Williams?
Horford when they go small.
R Williams is smaller than Horford though
Hopefully Taj comes back to the Knicks in the near future as a coach for the bigs. Your heart and leadership will be missed!!
Could/should have dump him in the Détroit trade
Go get it Taj !!!!!
They offered more money. Only has a few yrs. Good for you Taj. He’s a solid vet. Good bench mins.
“It’s tempting to brush off Brunson’s 16.3 points and 4.8 assists last year as the result of playing alongside world-class defensive-attention-drawer Luka Doncic. But he helped the Mavericks to a plus-4.1 net rating in 2,363 possessions without Doncic on the floor last year, so there’s hope that he can scale up and justify the four-year, $104 million contract that he signed with the Knicks.”
The Stats ……..
Certainly something that got Knicks excited. As the lead guard and steady mins. Brunson is in a place to succeed. Simple as that. It’s up tho him. He can definitely be our PG.
Gotta move dramacase Randle ……
No they don’t. Give your hero a chance.
Unless he’s not up to handling Randle.
Hero ????????
I don’t understand that. You must know all about that.
Okay I see your last question was on Randle. I meant Brunson, the “hero” of your post, if not your favorite overall. Brunson should get a chance with the cast before dumping any.
I have no heroes in sports. I support some 100%. Cause I respect True Talent.
Don’t know Brunson well enough. Never been a big fan. I’ve said this many times. I don’t change my views. But truth is. His stats are great without Luka. At 25 I’d say he is ready for what’s coming. I’m all in on him now. It’s not up to me, who Knicks get. He has the tools to succeed. I like the pairing with RJ. Just not a Randle guy.
So true, best in the world at what they do, but not heroes.
In the future, I will say protagonist instead of hero, and people will have to look up the meaning.
They’ll miss the veteran presence that Taj brought.
Business as usual as the Knicks continue to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic…
Once he clears waivers? Wouldn’t it make sense for a team that wants him and is NOT the Wizards to put in a claim on him?
5M$ salary for a bck up C
Did you see how much Mo Bamba signed for to be the back up C in Orlando? At least twice that. Sure he is relatively expensive, but if you are a team with a little cap room and a rivalry with the Wizards, why wouldn’t you spoil their fun?
Nobodies going over vet min for him
Bit surprised he chose pt over a championship team monies being the same and all
Maybe he would feel better actually participating in trying to win a title rather than watching other do it. The man has enough money to buy a ring. It would be just as significant as one that someone else won for you. But he only has so much time left to contribute to the highest level of basketball. I don’t blame him one iota.
Not one of the teams I would have expected, but he can give them more defense at the 5 spot, as well as his floor spacing, but also can slide over in certain lineups and help them in their area of need defensively at the 4…
Still would have thought Bulls, denver, heat, portland and Utah would all make some kind of sense before Washington…maybe even GS or a couple of others I didnt think of
Right now he is 6’9” and 220 LBs . I’d say he’s a great small ball center. Taj is a solid pro. I hope he comes back.
You didnt consider him as useful at the 5 a couple of years ago, but good to see you evolved with enough evidence there. Taj Gibson has been a personal favorite of mine since he was a rookie
We don’t play small ball. Very few can do it well. You must think the big is dead in NBA.
Mitch, Sims, Hartenstein……
It’s not what we value. Either way he is is still a premier defender. Always been. Never be my center. Why would you even go here.
This is a confusing post. Certain bigs that do certain things still have value, and versatility still matters. Randle and Toppin are also options at the 5 for the Knicks…also, I havent said anything negative about any of their bigs, and even said Hartenstein is a really good fit
Confused???? Yeah it’s not the first time.
Let’s try it this way ……
Just cause I wouldn’t play Taj as my #1 center. Does not mean he isn’t capable of giving good backup mins. And certainly in todays gm. He can be a small ball center. As a backup. Not a small ball fan.
Alex, what your arguing is what formerlyz said in his initial post. Before being such a prick on an internet message boards, consider improving your reading comprehension.
I think he’ll be back with the Knicks
This comment aged like a moldy bread instead of a fine wine.
So if he signed for Vet minimum. Means he could of came back. But I like the way we went with Mitch starting. And Hartenstein, Sims backing up Mitch. This is a solid center combo. Wish Taj the best. A Bklyn kid.