Pau Gasol is one of the top free agents on the market and with Carmelo Anthony looking to team up with him, teams like the NY Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, OKC Thunder and San Antonio Spurs are going after him and once Melo and LeBron James pick their teams, Gasol likely will sign.
The NBA free agency period is here for the summer 2014 there are big names like LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony set to hit the market, while behind them players like Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng, Pau Gasol, Greg Monroe, Rudy Gay and Eric Bledsoe will be on the market and teams like the Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, LA Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Boston Celtics and Portland Trail Blazers could be active in signing players.
Greg Monroe and Pau Gasol are two of the best big men on the market and could be an option in NY or Chicago. Bledsoe is very interesting as well, as he could get some nice money on the market but he may actually want to stay in Phoenix after what the team did this season.
Anthony has one of the most interesting situations with the Knicks, as the team has the best chance to sign him because of the money and the years that they can give him, but with the way they played last season there is a good chance he could leave. Phil Jackson has said that Anthony may have to take a pay cut to stay in NYC and while Anthony said he understood that and would be willing to do it, saying and doing it are two very different things.
Anyone who has criticized Anthony for wanting to opt out is misguided and even if he ends up staying with the Knicks after all, he had every right to become a free agent he deserved to do it as well. Anthony was a prime talent when he came out of college at Syracuse after winning the national title and he was picked by the Denver Nuggets and while that worked out well as he established himself as a superstar, he did not pick that team and then after that he signed an extension to remain there, avoiding free agency again.
Anthony is nearing the age of 30 and this will be the last chance in his career that he is on the free agent market with his talents still at their prime and that is why he deserves to get wooed if he wants to. Anthony signed the extension to stay in Denver and then was traded to the Knicks and while he had some say in making that deal, it was still not free agency and once he was traded he signed an extension and that kept him off the market again. This time he has the chance to put his talents on the market and he deserves that, as it could be the last time he ever does. The Knicks may miss on Melo and if they do, expect names like Luol Deng, Pau Gasol or Greg Monroe to be targets for the team.