We need a player like Taj Gibson or Ibaka.
Man would I LOVE Taj Gibson on this team.
I heard today from an inside source I have with many connections to NBA personnel, that Marc Gasol is very intrigued by and is strongly considering signing with the Knicks this summer.
I have basically crossed this option off the table because of how well Memphis has played this season in contrast to how bad the Knicks have been, but this friend of mine has been very close with many high ranking NBA personnel because of a project he is working on so I trust that it is the truth.
I mean even with how bad the Knicks are right now, they have a lot of room to improve. We have Melo to offer and we have NYC over Memphis. Sure, contact wise Memphis can offer more and sure they are the better team right now but how long does Gasol really expect that to last? Remember Memphis was pretty good with Pau for awhile before they got old and were terrible by the time he was finally traded, manybe Marc sees the writing on the wall if they dont win this summer.
I mean how much longer will Z-Bo even be a quality NBA 4? Conley is an extremely solid PG, but IMO he has peaked. He isnt getting any younger and will start to decline before he gets better. Other than that, that team probably isnt going to win much beyond this season. I dont think it is a guarantee but I could see why Gasol would want to leave while he has the chance. Kind of sell himself high in a way.
And despite the fact that the Knicks suck and Phil isnt coaching I still HAVE to believe that he has enough pull to sit Gasol down and be like "Listen, when I was in LA I had Kobe and needed a #2 for him, in came your brother and we won 2 championships. Now I have Melo and I need a #2 for him, come join me and we will win a title in a better city than Memphis." I have to believe he has enough pull to really make an impact. And foreigners love NY. We shall see, just interesting because I have kind of crossed out the Gasol option for awhile but IMO he is still the top target of the summer. He is still in his prime and is the only available player who is seriously having an MVP caliber season. Seriously, he is, and if he were in NY people would notice. His offensive game is diverse, team oriented, and perfect for the triangle. And unlike Greg Monroe, who is an atrocious defender, Marc Gasol is an ex defensive player of the year (Might even win it again) and one of the best post defenders in the league.
I love the idea of drafting Russell (obviously) and signing Gasol. I think my favorite scenario for this summer has been changing on a weekly basis lately because there are just so many ways this summer could go, but I think above all else my ideal of all ideal scenarios would be to draft D'Angelo Russell and sign Marc Gasol.
We would have Melo, bring in our PG of the future in Russell who can also be a secondary perimeter scorer and then take care of finding Melo's #2. Our new franchise center, secondary scoring option and rim protecting defender in Marc Gasol. If we could take care of that the rest of the summer would be a breeze. Free agents would be lining up to hop on the wagon and we would have the cap space to sign whoever we want. At that point it would just be up to Phil and Fisher to decide which role players he needs to spend the rest of our cap space on.
**** if we could do that trade for Taj Gibson and have a Melo/Taj/Gasol frontcout with Russell at point and then maybe sign a Wes Matthews or a Danny Green IMO that team would win a ring down the road. D'Angelo Russell will be a ring winning kind of player on this team IMO. Hes the kind of guy we need with the right attitude and leadership as well as his game. If we can get our Gasol like the Lakers did along with a kid like Russell, **** just cant go wrong.
Like ive said this summer is so exciting because there are a million different things that can happen but I think my favorite of them all would be D'Angelo Russell and Marc Gasol. Yeah, that sounds nice. Make it happen Phil.