Knicks Pick Up Team Option for Allonzo Trier

The Knicks owned the team option on the 2018 undrafted free agent Allonzo Trier’s contract and have exercised the formerly unguaranteed deal.

The New York Knicks have exercised their team option for Allonzo Trier’s contract, thus guaranteeing the $3.5 million for the undrafted guard out of the University of Arizona. The Athletic’s Shams Charania first reported the news with Ian Begley of SNY confirming the story.

Trier signed a two-way G League contract with the Knicks following the 2018 NBA Draft, where no team selected the Seattle native. The then-22-year-old Trier averaged 16.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game in college, but suspensions due to alleged performance enhancing drugs marred his chances at being drafted in June.

Nevertheless, New York agreed to a G League deal, which stipulated the team could employ Trier on the big-league roster no more than 45 days. Trier quickly surpassed the mark with solid play—and the ‘Bockers reached another deal with “Iso Zo” for the largest contract inked to an undrafted rookie.

In 64 games, Trier averaged 10.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per contest in 22.8 minutes per during his rookie campaign (Basketball-Reference).

Trier was a spark plug off the bench for the Knicks in his rookie season. Usually playing as an off-ball guard, the 6-5 Trier had no issue introducing himself to the league that shun him by way of his undrafted status—often succeeding in isolation possessions, drives to the rim, and shot-clock bail-out plays. Trier is a confident shooter from mid-range and even off the catch-and-shoot three-point attempt, but he was criticized for his sometimes-unselfish play.

Despite being a go-to off-the-bench scorer, Allonzo found prosperity guiding offenses and even sharing the ball and setting up his teammates—including his growing connection with second-team All-Rookie center Mitchell Robinson, another unheralded baller finding success in the NBA in spite of his second-round pick status.

Trier had a promising freshman year with the Knicks, and apparently the Knicks are welcoming to Trier’s talents in the immediate future.

However, Trier might not be on the Knicks for long. While New York exercised the team option for Allonzo’s bi-annual exception, the organization has been in communication with the New Orleans Pelicans and David Griffin for Anthony Davis—the All-NBA forward on the trading block. Davis has expressed a desire to re-sign in New York should be be traded to the mid-Atlantic metropolis, and the Knicks may have to trade Trier and his $3.5 million contract to facilitate an Anthony Davis deal.

For now, Trier is still a Knickerbocker, and one of the several promising young talents on a roster grappling with a wide open future and mounting offseason questions.

»READ: Projecting the long-term fit of Allonzo Trier

»READ: Mitchell Robinson has changed the Knicks’ free agency calculation