Will Knicks, Lakers land any big fish in free agency?
NBA free agency begins in a few days with the July Moratorium, which is when teams can start negotiating with players and agreements on deals can be made. The Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks are coming off awful seasons, but both teams have a ton of cap space and are trying to get in on seemingly every major free agent available.
Two top guys that are almost certainly staying put are Marc Gasol and Kevin Love. Gasol has given absolutely zero indication that he plans to leave the Memphis Grizzlies, while Love has repeatedly said he plans to go back to the Cleveland Cavaliers. While some people have remained skeptical that Love would actually stay based on how this year played out, it’s looking like he’ll indeed back up his word.
Craig Mitchelldyer/USA TODAY Sports
However, there are some other big-fish free agents who may be lured by these big-market franchises. LaMarcus Aldridge is expected to leave the Portland Trail Blazers, and there’s momentum gaining that the Lakers have a good chance at Aldridge:
Heard that LaMarcus Aldridge was leaning toward Lakers, a sign that their brand is not only back but never went away despite appearances.
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) June 30, 2015
This doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but it certainly seems like the Lakers are at least in play. The San Antonio Spurs have been rumored to be the front-runner for Aldridge’s services, but they need to make some cap magic happen in order to have the requisite space. The Knicks also have interest in Aldridge, but they’re a long shot.
DeAndre Jordan is another name out there who could get poached, and both teams are interested. The Knicks are reportedly selling Jordan on being more involved offensively than he is with the Los Angeles Clippers, and both the Knicks and Lakers could really use a rim protector in the middle. But it’s believed that the Dallas Mavericks are the biggest threat to steal Jordan away from the Clippers.
Another long shot is Dwyane Wade if he can’t come to an agreement with the Miami Heat on a new deal, but the Knicks and Lakers throwing big money at Wade would be pretty misguided at this point.
There are quality second-tier players on the market. Names like Danny Green, DeMarre Carroll, Greg Monroe, Wesley Matthews and Arron Afflalo are all possibilities, and Monroe has been linked to the Knicks for a while:
Knicks are frontrunners for two free agents — Greg Monroe and Arron Afflalo, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Those are realistic targets.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 29, 2015
Monroe and Afflalo wouldn’t be a terrible haul for the Knicks, but there are questions about fit and possibly overpaying those two guys. They’d certainly help New York win more games, but they might not be the best choices in order to make the team a title contender. Of course, the cap will rise a lot in the next few years, and adding those two plus more free agents in the coming years could be a championship formula. We’ll see.
At any rate, the Knicks and Lakers are going to push for the big names in free agency, because that’s what they do. It’ll be interesting to see who they get and how they improve moving forward.
