5 biggest free-agent mistakes in New York Knicks history

2.  Jared Jeffries

It’s never a good feeling for the team who made the offer when a team has the option to match a contract offer and lets the player walk for nothing. That is exactly what happened when the Wizards chose to let restricted free agent Jared Jeffries, sign a five-year, $30 million contract with the Knicks.

Coming to New York at just 25 years of age, Isiah Thomas and the Knicks were betting on Jeffries’ future development when they decided to hand him this contract. After starting in 77 games for the Wizards the season prior, Thomas and the front office felt comfortable with the decision.

Jared Jeffries was a lottery selection by the Wizards in 2002, having spent his first four seasons there. He came to the Knicks with the hopes of receiving additional opportunities to showcase his talents, which never really materialized.

He never reached the minute totals he did in Washington with the Knicks while also sacrificing his role as a starter move to the bench in the process. In New York, he never reached the 6.4 points per game total he had recorded for the Wizards in 2005-06.

All in all, it never really made sense for either the Knicks or Jeffries to agree to terms on a contract. The Knicks finally agreed with this sentiment, when they included Jeffries in a trade that would net them Tracy McGrady.

Jeffries’ contract was bought out by the Rockets not too long after the trade, which led to the Knicks re-signing him. It was more of the same for Jeffries, a limited role with unspectacular play to show for it.

Eddy Curry may have had the harder fall from grace during his time with the Knicks, but the flashes of productivity made his contract feel slightly more cost-effective than Jared Jeffries’.