NBA Free Agency rumors: Knicks sign Tim Hardaway Jr. to offer sheet

The New York Knicks are trying to bring back a familiar face to the Big Apple, signing restricted free agent Tim Hardaway Jr. to an offer sheet.

Is Tim Hardaway Jr. going back back to New York? The former first-round pick of the New York Knicks back in 2013-14 could be making a return to the franchise.

On draft night in 2015, the Knicks traded away Hardaway Jr. to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for the No. 19 pick and Jerian Grant. In his first two seasons with the Knicks, the former Michigan product wasn’t a very efficient scorer and struggled to find any sort of rhythm. He had a down year after the trade to Atlanta, but found himself this past season with the Hawks.

Slowly developing into a Three-and-D player, the 24-year-old had his best season yet in Atlanta. He had a career-high in scoring at 14.2 points per game and shot 46 percent from the field. Hardaway Jr. was starting to hit his stride as the Hawks are heading into a full rebuild with the departure of Paul Millsap.

The former Knick hit restricted free agency and is now reportedly signing an offer sheet with the team that drafted him. According to The Vertical’s Shams Charania, the New York Knicks are signing Hardaway Jr. to a four-year offer sheet that’s worth $71 million.

The craziest part of the contract is that the final year could be worth $19 million to Hardaway Jr. Since he’s a restricted free agent, the Hawks will have two days to decide to match the offer sheet for him.

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With Atlanta hitting a full rebuild, it’ll be up to new general manager Travis Schlenk to see if they should match the offer sheet. Salary cap space isn ‘t an issue, but it might not be the right time for the franchise to give that much money to a role player. Let’s see if Atlanta will bring back their shooting guard or if he’s headed back to the Big Apple.