Well, that didn’t take long.
Every summer, come hell or high water, the New York Knicks are linked to free agents they cannot afford. Not even a full day into their 2014 offseason, they were linked to Los Angeles Lakers free agent Pau Gasol.
According to Yahoo! Sports’ Marc J. Spears, Gasol is interested in a reunion with former coach and current Knicks president Phil Jackson. Likewise, New York is expected to be interested in bringing the 7-footer aboard:
Pau Gasol felt nostalgic in what he admitted might have been his last day with the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday. He’s also excited about his impending free agency and is open to a reunion with former Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who now runs the New York Knicks’ front office.
“I’m happy for him and the position that he got,” Gasol said. “I’m always going to be a big fan and a friend. I would listen.”
[…]
Jackson coached Gasol with the Lakers from 2007-10. Since being hired as the Knicks’ president, Jackson has signed former Lakers forward Lamar Odom to a contract and met with former Lakers forward Metta World Peace. The Knicks would be interested in Gasol in free agency, a source said.
Gasol, 33, made $19.3 million in the final year of his contract and isn’t expected to get anything close to the type of salary again. Joining the Knicks would likely come with a massive pay cut since the most they can offer – without a sign-and-trade deal – is the taxpayer’s midlevel exception, expected to be worth about $3.2 million.
Don’t shoot the messenger.
Gasol shouldn’t join the Knicks. And he’s not going to join the Knicks.
First, there’s the money aspect of everything. Gasol isn’t worth anything close to the $19.3 million he made this season. But he’s also worth more than the $3.2 million New York can offer. No way does he take a $16.1 million pay cut (83.4 percent) to join a team that didn’t make the playoffs this season.
That’s another thing: the playoffs.
The Lakers big man wants to contend for a championship. He’s made that very clear over the last few months, and it’s something Spears reiterates. I’ll be the first one to say the Knicks underachieved. If they keep this exact roster intact leading into next season, they could still be a top-four Eastern Conference team. I’ll stand by that. Yet even if Anthony returns, they’re still not the juggernaut that players will be taking 80-plus percent pay cuts to join.
Bear in mind, the Knicks don’t “need” Gasol either. Sure, he’s familiar with the Triangle. He’s also familiar with Jackson. If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Jackson early, it’s that he likes to surround himself with familiar faces, hence the rumors linking him to Derek Fisher and Steve Kerr as potential coaching candidates, and his meetings with Lamar Odom and Metta World Peace.
Right now, though, the Knicks have Tyson Chandler and Amar’e Stoudemire both under contract for next season. They’ll earn a combined $38-plus million. Even if Gasol was willing to take a massive pay cut, that’s too many big bodies. One of Stoudemire, Chandler or Gasol would have to come off the bench, none of whom would be happy about it.
Trade possibilities exist, but even those are slim. Though STAT and Chandler are on expiring deals, the former earns too much to be a real asset and dealing the latter could be defensive suicide.
No use giving this a Gasol-Jackson reunion any more thought beyond this. Don’t make yourself crazy. It’s less than unlikely. Gasol will have other options. He will “listen closely” to the Lakers if they want him. He may even talk and listen to Jackson and the Knicks.
But barring a miracle that wouldn’t yield miraculous on-court results, that’s all he’ll do.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
