Jericho Sims Back to Knicks on Multi-Year Deal
Per Shams Charania, the New York Knicks have brought back more continuity for their interior game, inking second-year center Jericho Sims to a three-year deal. The 23-year-old is the second paint representative to earn an invite back to Manhattan, joining Mitchell Robinson.
Sims joined the Knicks as a second-round pick (58th overall) in the 2021 draft out of Texas. He wound up playing 41 games with the team (including five starts), averaging 4.1 rebounds and 2.2 points over that span.
The center took advantage of some prime opportunities afforded to him over the final portions of the season, notably earning a 10-point, 13-rebound double-double in an April loss to Brooklyn. Four nights later, Sims hauled down a young career-best 14 rebounds in the Knicks' victorious season finale over Washington.
"(He has) great feet, the athleticism is terrific. We haven’t seen the playmaking in the paint he has," head coach Tom Thibodeau said of Sims to the New York Post following his double-double showing against the Nets. "As time goes on, we’ll see that he’s a very good playmaker in the paint. You’ll see him kick out and find the open guy.’’
New York has both re-upped and revamped its interior game in the early stages of the NBA offseason. In addition to the returns of Sims and Robinson, the team also signed Isaiah Hartenstein after a breakout season off the Los Angeles Clippers' bench. Nerlens Noel, on the other hand, will not be returning, having been reportedly dealt to the Detroit Pistons in an effort to build a de facto budget for Jalen Brunson.
Sims will partake in the Knicks' Summer League endeavors, which begin on Friday night in Las Vegas against the Golden State Warriors (8 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
