Skip to content

Phil Jackson was leery of offering Marc Gasol big money during free agency

Noah K. Murray / USA TODAY Sports

Much has been made of the New York Knicks' inability to land any big-name free agents this offseason, as the club missed out on LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Monroe, and Marc Gasol.

Knicks president Phil Jackson explained his approach to free agency in a February interview with ESPN's Charley Rosen, published Monday. Jackson, who's been heavily scrutinized as the team's primary decision-maker, candidly discussed Gasol in particular:

It's tricky. The question is who to offer the big money to? A guy who's an established player or someone who has sky-high potential? And then there's someone like Marc Gasol, who's certainly a winner and would have to be paid somewhere around $18 million, a number that would severely limit what we could offer other players. We'd wind up with starters only getting about $5 million. So there are endless ramifications to the salary cap situation, and rules within rules.

Whether Jackson didn't want to break the bank for Gasol or Gasol didn't want to play for Manhattan's home team isn't clear.

Had the Zen Master successfully lured the 7-foot-1 First-Team All-NBA member to the Big Apple, Gasol would have become the best center in franchise history since Patrick Ewing. However, the nearly two-decade drought of elite big men in a Knickerbockers uniform continues, as Jackson bestowed a relatively handsome contract on the offensively limited Robin Lopez.

The New York Daily News' Frank Isola brings up an interesting point regarding Jackson's allotment of funds:

Jackson and general manager Steve Mills did a respectable job of getting the team's payroll under the luxury tax. They sent Tyson Chandler back to Dallas; bought out Amar'e Stoudemire; traded J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Pablo Prigioni; and permitted Andrea Bargnani to walk. As a result of these maneuvers, the Knicks entered this summer's free agency period with financial flexibility.

Jackson didn't leverage that fiscal freedom to secure big-time talent, however. Instead, the Knicks invested in a collection of role players - Lopez, Arron Afflalo, and Kyle O'Quinn - and NBA cast-offs - Derrick Williams, Lou Amundson, and Lance Thomas.

Gasol is a former Defensive Player of the Year who's made two All-Star Games and two Olympics appearances. He wasted no time re-signing with the only NBA team he's ever played for, agreeing to a max deal with the Memphis Grizzlies earlier in July.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox