Knicks allow Toure Murry to become unrestricted free agent
Well, this one might backfire.
The New York Knicks opted on Monday to not make Toure Murry a restricted free agent, choosing not to tender him a qualifying offer and allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent.
Hearing you can add Toure Murry to list of unrestricted free agents. Knicks, I'm told, have relinquished his restricted free agent status
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) June 30, 2014
While Murry isn't the type of player a team is likely to kick themselves later for losing, this represents a curious mismanagement of assets.
In short, the Knicks don't have the salary cap flexibility to do much this offseason anyway, so the cap hold that would have accompanied a restricted Murry was unlikely to matter for them. Now, his cap hold is slightly less, but the Knicks have lost the right to match any offer sheet he signs.
Murry's QO was only $1 million. If you want to keep the guy, and you're over the cap anyway, not extending that QO seems very strange.
— Jared Dubin (@JADubin5) June 30, 2014
Even if the Knicks later needed the cap flexibility, they could have rescinded his qualifying offer later. Murry, a 24-year-old guard who flashed some nice versatility as a rookie, was unlikely to sign a one-year, $1.02-million qualifying offer, making the risk minimal.
While the Knicks are said to be interested in bringing Murry back, he's also expected to draw interest from several teams in nerd of backcourt depth.