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David West wants an opportunity to "legitimately taste the Finals," and he doesn't think the Indiana Pacers provide that.
The free agent has serious interest in playing for either the Golden State Warriors or San Antonio Spurs, the last two title winners, reports USA Today's Sam Amick.
If West is serious about his desire to head to the Bay Area, he'd have to play on a veteran minimum's salary, only $1.49 million. Amick has more on what a potential agreement in San Antonio would mean:
The Spurs are currently in the running for free agent forward LaMarcus Aldridge, but West's team-first fabric and reliable production (11.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game last season) would be a tremendous fit.
The veteran power forward also told WTHR-TV's Bob Kravitz that his decision to opt out of $12.6 million next season was made and notified to the Pacers three days before the NBA Draft - something team president Larry Bird didn't mention at the time.
"I had my agent tell the organization two, three days before the draft that we were going to opt out of the final year of the contract," West said. "I felt doing it post-draft wouldn't be the right thing to do."
But West saved most of his criticism of the Pacers for the way in which Bird talked about teammate Roy Hibbert after the season ended, saying they threw his teammate under the bus. 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.
Hibbert opted in on his contract for next season with Indiana, and the Pacers are now reportedly trying to trade the regressing center.
West maintains that his own decision to opt out came from watching the NBA Finals.
"I just watched those Finals, and I thought, 'Man, I've got to give myself a chance.' That's the reason I made this decision," West told Kravitz. "I'm just not sure the Pacers are in title contention right now. I'm going into my 13th season. I'll be 35 soon."
It was reported Monday that is one reason why the New York Knicks are not a realistic destination for the power forward.
With his Pacers days certainly over, West would be a nice veteran addition for a contender looking for toughness and depth up front.
