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Knicks’ Arron Afflalo looking for at least one more big deal

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Arron Afflalo is averaging 13.9 points per game in his first season with the Knicks.Noah Graham/NBAE/Getty Images

Arron Afflalo is averaging 13.9 points per game in his first season with the Knicks.

WASHINGTON – Equipped with a player option and a strong showing as the Knicks secondary scorer this season, Arron Afflalo told the Daily News he’s looking for at least one more big contract.

“Yeah, it’d be nice. It’d be nice,” the 30-year-old said. “But you do what you can. Whatever opportunities present themselves you never know. I’ve always looked at myself as a player who will have some longevity in the league based on the way that I play. I don’t rely too much on being overly athletic. I just try to be smart, take care of my body.”

Afflalo’s option for next season is worth $8 million, but he can probably command at least that figure annually over multiple years in the open market. The Knicks do not own his Bird Rights and would have to dip into their cap space to re-sign Afflalo if he doesn’t opt in.

Heading into Saturday night’s game against the Wizards, Afflalo was second on the team to Carmelo Anthony in points per game (13.9) and minutes (34.2). The Compton native said he hasn’t given much thought to his player option since the deadline is over three months away, but his priorities are simple.

“Usually it’s just finances, really,” he said. “You can obviously look at team opportunity. But mainly it’s just team opportunity and finances.

“It’s one of those things you assess at the end of the season because things always change for the good and for the bad.”

Afflalo joined the Knicks last summer after a referral from Anthony following their 1 1/2 seasons together in Denver. He’s probably the closest friend on the roster to Anthony, who has watched his other buddies (J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, Tim Hardaway Jr.) get shipped out by Phil Jackson.

“New York’s been a great experience,” Afflalo said. “Obviously we’ve had some struggles the second half of the season, but it’s been a great experience. I love the city. Got great teammates.”

Anthony’s future with the Knicks is also up in the air, along with seven players who can become free agents. In other words, the roster is set to be overhauled for a second straight summer – an obstacle toward continuity and development that isn’t lost on interim coach Kurt Rambis.

“In an ideal perfect world you’d like to have your roster set, you’d like to work with the same guys year after year for five or six years so that you can continue to develop and build and grow together as a ballclub and understand how to work with each other better,” Rambis said. “So a lot of change is always difficult. It always requires a lot of adjustment and it takes time. Things rarely, if ever, happen overnight when that much change is going on. When you look at the San Antonio Spurs, a great success story in this league, the continuity that they’ve had is overlooked as one of the huge assets for why they’re so good.”

Rambis, whose own status with the Knicks is tenuous, encouraged his players to continue going hard for themselves. New York was one defeat away from clinching a third straight sub-.500 season heading into Saturday.

“We still have practice days, we still have games that they can utilize to get better and utilize to make sure they’re playing the game the right way in order to get wins,” he said. “Because that just makes them better commodities in this league for us or for anybody else.”

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