Hardaway Jr. officially joins Knicks as Hawks decline to match offer

The wait is over. Tim Hardaway Jr. is back.

The Atlanta Hawks informed the Knicks Saturday that they would not match the four-year, $71 million offer sheet the Knicks tendered Hardaway and now the reunion is complete.

The 25-year-old shooting guard was originally drafted by the Knicks in 2013, but after two seasons in New York he was traded to the Hawks in exchange for the draft rights to the No. 19 pick - Jerian Grant. Hardaway spent two seasons in Atlanta, playing his best last season when he averaged 14.5 points per game.

The deal the Knicks provided Hardaway includes a player option on the fourth season and a 15 percent trade kicker.

While this deal was done it hardly settled the Knicks roster. To make room for Hardaway’s contract the Knicks had to renounce Derrick Rose, Sasha Vujecic and Ron Baker. The Knicks had come to terms on a two-year deal with Baker, but need to renounce him, too, and then re-sign him into either the $4.3 mid-level exception or create salary cap space with another move.

“Bringing back Tim to his original NBA home is an exciting time for him and this franchise,” Mills said in a statement. “As a versatile wing whose game continues to improve, he will fit right into the core of players that make up a roster emphasizing youth, athleticism, accountability and unselfishness.”

Those last words may signal the next and biggest move looming of the Knicks - the status of Carmelo Anthony. While Phil Jackson is gone as team president the organization remains set on trying to find a way to trade him before next season. The Knicks have been engaged in trade talks with the Houston Rockets, with Anthony reportedly willing to waive his no-trade clause to join his friend, Chris Paul, on a contending team. 

But so far the two sides have not been able to come to an agreement, the Knicks trying to not add long-term contracts and get younger to match the rebuilding pieces already in place.

The other option now for the Knicks is figuring out whether to move Courtney Lee. The shooting guard signed to a four-year, $50 million deal last summer by Jackson and while there has been some talk that Hardaway and Lee could play together in a smaller lineup, the Knicks can hardly afford to spend $28 million on one position.

Hardaway Jr. improved greatly on both ends of the floor from his time with the Knicks, something that endeared the Hawks to him. But in the end, the money was far greater in New York than the Hawks were willing to pay.

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"I love it here,” Hardaway Jr. told reporters at the end of the Hawks season. “Atlanta brought me here and it really felt like I was starting all over as a rookie when I got here. They made me go through some tough times. They made me mature as a person on and off the court. And made me appreciate the game a whole lot more when I first came in the league. That's what I'm thankful for.”

The immediate need for the Knicks, even if they have few illusions of contending this season, is a veteran point guard to serve as a mentor the team’s lottery pick - 18-year-old Frank Ntilikina. While many of the best point guards have been snapped up already, Rose and Rajon Rondo remain in search of a contract. 

While the point guard vacancy may be the biggest need, it’s hard for the Knicks and acting president Steve Mills to commit until he finds out what he could get on the trade market for Anthony - or Lee. The Knicks had inquired about the availability of Boston’s Marcus Smart with the Celtics in need of shedding contracts after agreeing to a deal with Gordon Hayward, but the Celtics already dealt away Avery Bradley Friday.

Email: popper@northjersey.com