David West Says The Knicks Aren't Good Enough To Sign Him

David West says the Knicks aren’t good enough to sign him

Dan Feldman Jul 1, 2015, 9:57 PM EDT





Remember when the Knicks thought they had a chance with Marc Gasol?

How the feeble have fallen.

Not even David West – who was reportedly headed to New York – will sign with the Knicks. He makes that darn clear.

Bob Kravitz of WTHR:


This is the type of foresight Carmelo Anthony might lack. West doesn’t want to take a big payday and get stuck somewhere he doesn’t want to be.

West, via Kravitz:

“At this point in my career, it’s all about winning, and again, I don’t want to be in a position where we’re just fighting to make the playoffs, I want to be in a spot where we can legitimately taste the finals,” West said.

For what it’s worth, West also didn’t like the Pacers’ public case to convince Roy Hibbert to opt out. West, via Kravitz:

“That’s one thing where I wish they would have handled better was the situation with Roy,” West said. “I’ll be honest with you, that bothered me a little bit, and I told Roy that. I’m the type of guy who feels like we’re all in this fight together and I’m not designed in that way to put it all on one guy. That did rub me the wrong way. That threw me off. I started reading some of that stuff, I started thinking, ‘Whoaa.’ I just didn’t feel good about that. I told Roy that it bothered me, that he’s still my teammate.

Hibbert opted in, and West opted out.

Now, West is seeking greener pastures. He’s obviously serious about winning over money – he opted out of $12.6 million – and he should have his pick of teams. Anyone should want West on a minimum contract, and most contenders (at least the ones not over the apron) should like him on a bi-annual exception. Someone might even give him the mid-level exception.

The bigger challenge is finding a contender where West would play a reasonably large role.

Are the Raptors, with DeMarre Carroll in the fold, good enough? Would a minimum salary convince West to back up Blake Griffin on the Clippers? How about West signing for less than Marreese Speights and allowing the Warriors to trade Speights?

West will have options. The less money he’s willing to take, the more teams that will pursue him.



bob
MY NOTE: Not as easy to build a team from scratch as it is to inherit one that's only one player away, is it Phil?

Posting this thread, and the one about the Lakers and Aldridge, might seem like it's just schadenfreude on my part (ok, maybe it is a little bit) but it's also to highlight how hard it is to do what Danny and Brad are doing. I don't have much respect for Dim Buss but Jeannie's no fool and the Lakers are a highly respected organization. Phil's no fool either and NY is, well, The Big Apple. It's just hard. Period. KG has owned a home in Malibu most of his adult life but has never played for a team in CA. Players can be anywhere they want to be, most of the year, and when they're working they're spending half their life on the road and the other half in the gym or video room. Kobe came back from Europe for the LMA interview (my money is on Italy. He grew up there and speaks Italian fluently). If LA is too hot for him in the summer, he's gone. Every player who isn't on the bubble has the financial wherewithal to do much the same. They're all multi-millionaires, even those on multi-year rookie contracts.


.

And then there is this report article, a few days before free agency began and citing a "league source" that said that West was going to be a Knick.

Nothing is real until it happens. Or Woj says it's real.


http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/06/27/report-david-west-very-likely-to-sign-with-knicks-in-free-agency/


Report: David West ‘very likely’ to sign with Knicks in free agency
Brett Pollakoff Jun 27, 2015, 11:00 AM EDT



When it was reported that David West would decline his player option with the Pacers for next season to become an unrestricted free agent, it was at least a little bit of a surprise.

West could have earned $12.5 million next year by staying in Indiana, and then entered free agency right as the salary cap is set to spike in advance of the 2016-17 season.

But at age 34, and after playing 12 NBA seasons, West wanted to try to secure a multi-year deal now instead. And, it appears as though he already has his sights set on his next destination.

Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report:

League source: David West is “very likely” to sign with the Knicks come FA. “He knew that before he chose not to opt in” with the Pacers.

It’s unclear what the Knicks would offer West, but even if he were able to secure a two-year deal in the $8 million per season range, he’d already have set himself up to receive a nice little raise.

West has a reputation of being one of the league’s actual tough guys, and is someone whose leadership style has traditionally commanded the respect of his teammates behind closed doors. Carmelo Anthony is more the lead-by-example type, so depending on who else New York is able to add in free agency, a veteran voice like West’s should be a welcome locker room addition.

West averaged 11.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 28.7 minutes per contest with the Pacers last season.


bob



.

Even though the Cs do not have any future Knicks draft picks, I could care less that a little bit that they are going to be a bad team again (and, again, and again, etc).

It is very interesting that West says that he wants no part of being a NY Knick. Wonder if other guys will have the same thoughts?