According to David West, he opted out of his contract with the Indiana Pacers because he wanted to win. Traditionally the Pacers have been very good, but struggled last year with the absence of Paul George. Now with Roy Hibbert reportedly on the trade market, West deems it the perfect time to exit. There is a run on big men in the league at the moment and any teams missing out on Greg Monroe or LaMarcus Aldridge could call West. However, the forward made it clear that he will not answer for the Knicks.
According to ESPN's Ian Begley, West was a frontrunner to sign for the Knicks. New York was heavily targeting the power forward as they also chased big names like Greg Monroe. However, Bob Kravitz of WTHR is reporting that West does not believe the Knicks count as title contenders even with Carmelo Anthony on the roster.
"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, via WTHR.com. "That's one thing where I wish they would have handled better was the situation with Roy. 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."
The Knicks would love to get West right now under contract. According to Wojnarowski, Monroe has signed a max contract with the Milwaukee Bucks leaving New York very shorthanded. Despite drafting Kristaps Porzingis, the Knicks are still in search of a productive big man to place on the roster. ESPN.com is reporting they will now turn their attention to players like Corey Brewer, Robin Lopez and potentially Brandon Bass. However, only Lopez represents a strong center option. New York does not have a center under contract for next season which means they likely need to focus all of their efforts on Lopez or consider making a trade.
As previously reported by the Indianapolis Star, Hibbert is available. The Knicks lack assets to get done unless Indiana favors someone like Jose Calderon, but it is worth exploring. Kendrick Perkins is also on the market. According to ProBasketballTalk.com, he is getting looks at from the Los Angeles Clippers who are at risk of losing DeAndre Jordan. The Knicks could move in on him sooner rather than later.
