The New York Knicks have decided to fully guarantee Jericho Simsโ $2.09 million salary for the 2024-25 NBA season.
Sims’ upcoming salary was part of a team option that the Knicks exercised on June 29, making it fully guaranteed. He initially signed a three-year, $5.66 million deal with New York in July 2022.
The New York Knicks center Jericho Sims will have his $2.09 million salary fully guaranteed for the 2024-25 season, league sources told @hoopshype. Sims has spent the past three seasons with the Knicks after being selected by New York with the 58th pick of the 2021 NBA Draft.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto)
Jericho Sims, who will turn 26 on October 20, was picked by the Knicks at number 58 in the 2021 NBA draft from the University of Texas at Austin. Over his career spanning 138 regular-season games (32 starts), he has averaged modest stats: 2.6 points, 4 rebounds, and about 14 minutes per game.
Standing at 6-foot-10 and weighing in at 245 pounds, Sims boasts a shooting percentage of over 74% from the field but struggles with free throws at just under 60%. During his rookie season in ’21-’22, he posted averages of 2.2 points and slightly over four rebounds per game across his appearances.
In his second season (’22-’23), he played more prominently with career highs in multiple categories: scoring (3.4 points), rebounding (4.7 boards), and playing time (15.6 minutes). His shooting improved significantly tooโalmost hitting an impressive mark of nearly 78% from the floor and bettering his free throw percentage to a solid three-quarters mark.
New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau praised Jericho Sims last October for standing out in training camp
During a January game against Atlanta Hawks in ’23, Sims had one of his best performances with career-highs: scoring twelve points on six mid-range shots and grabbing eight rebounds within twenty-eight minutes as a starter.
Just six days later against Boston Celtics, he again shined by pulling down fourteen reboundsโa personal bestโin thirty-five minutes during their narrow win over Boston Celtics; this included ten defensive boards which were almost matching another previous high against Toronto Raptors during their regular-season finale back then (’21-’22).
Last October brought unexpected praise from Coach Tom Thibodeau who singled out Sims as having stood out most during training camp despite coming off surgeries earlier that summerโthumb surgery two years ago followed by shoulder surgery last offseasonโto which Thibodeau said: “Jericho has really had great camp…heโs done good job us.”
However recent form saw decline where last year saw him play forty-five games starting eleven times averaging only two points alongside three-point-three rebounds clocking thirteen-minute average court-time while posting lowest-ever shooting percentages both floor sixty-nine-percent line sixty-six-point-seven percent respectively
Fans feel hopeful about seeing more growth potential given current projections placing him third-string center behind Mitchell Robinson backed-up primarily Precious Achiuwa following loss Isaiah Hartenstein Oklahoma City via free agency
