Knicks Notes: Achiuwa, Tucker, Payne, Shamet, Free Agents, Brown

Coming off a frustrating season in terms of playing time, Knicks big man Precious Achiuwa “started to see the game a lot differently” in January, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscriber link). Bondy notes that Achiuwa was never able to win the full trust of former head coach Tom Thibodeau, dating back to his arrival in a trade with Toronto last season. Thibodeau inserted former Knick Jericho Sims into the starting lineup instead of Achiuwa when Karl-Anthony Towns was injured, and Achiuwa saw his minutes drop even more when Mitchell Robinson returned in March.

Bondy points out that Achiuwa got off to a strong start during the preseason, but wasn’t able to claim a regular role after missing the first 21 games of the regular season with a hamstring strain.

“You don’t want to start off the season hurt,” Achiuwa said. “And I was kind of having a really good preseason. So getting hurt right there kind of throws you off your rhythm. You get back, you’re trying to get back your rhythm. And then you’re battling getting your rhythm with inconsistencies in terms of playing time, playing style. It took a while for me. But it was tough.”

Achiuwa is exploring his options as he prepares for free agency at the end of the month. Bondy believes the chances of him staying in New York may have improved slightly due to the coaching change, but the team’s salary cap situation makes a return uncertain.

“Going to take a little bit of time from my end to think about that stuff,” Achiuwa said regarding free agency. “But that’s something that’s important. So when that time comes, I have people who I pay money to handle that type of stuff, who have those type of conversations. So we’ll see how that goes.”

There’s more from New York:

• The Knicks are almost certain to decline their $3.5MM option on P.J. Tucker for next season, Bondy adds in the same piece, but that doesn’t mean he won’t re-sign. Although Tucker barely played after joining the team in March, he established himself as a strong locker room leader. Bondy notes that free agent guards Cameron Payne and Landry Shamet are both close friends of Mikal Bridges, increasing the chances that they’ll return. Bondy identifies Al Horford, Nicolas Batum and Chris Paul as potential low-cost additions in free agency.
• In a mailbag column, James L. Edwards III of The Athletic points to Grizzlies sharpshooter Luke Kennard as another possible free agent target. Edwards acknowledges that Kennard is likely to receive better offers than the $5.7MM he could get from New York, but adds that his status as a CAA client could give the Knicks an advantage. Edwards also names Horford as an MLE target, along with Spencer Dinwiddie and Trey Lyles.
• Former Sacramento head coach Mike Brown conducted his interview with the Knicks on Wednesday, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link).