Pau Gasol “considered” joining old coach Phil Jackson and former teammate Derek Fisher with the Knicks, but his desire to win immediately trumped his old friends.
Gasol was at the Garden Wednesday as a visitor, the newest member of the Bulls, the team many have anointed the favorites in the Eastern Conference along with the LeBron James-led Cavaliers.
“I considered them just because of different factors, mainly Phil and Derek being involved, the Knicks being a great organization as well,” Gasol said after shootaround ahead of the two teams’ season opener. “It would’ve been interesting, but I thought there were better situations for me.”
That being the Bulls, where he joins Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and coach Tom Thibodeau.
“Overall, I feel it’s a much more balanced team, with better weapons overall,” said Gasol, a two-time NBA champion with the Lakers and four-time All-Star. “I fit in better, and it’s a team that’s automatically a contender.”
Another factor working against the Knicks, the 34-year-old Gasol said, was their limited finances because of the salary cap. Gasol signed a three-year, $22 million contract with Chicago. After re-signing Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks could only offer him a fraction of that amount.
“I took a pretty significant pay cut already, so that would’ve been a humongous pay cut for me to be in this city,” he said.
But the Knicks could land another Gasol next summer: Pau’s brother Marc.
Marc Gasol, the Grizzles’ versatile 7-foot center, will be a free agent and likely will be targeted by Jackson with the Knicks’ projected $20 million under the cap. Pau said it’s “possible” his brother could wind up in New York.
“We’ll see what happens next year what he decides and hopefully he’ll have a strong year and all the options in the world because he’s one of the top centers, interior players in the league, so any team would be fortunate to have him,” Pau said. “It’s a personal decision. I talked to my brother enough about Phil that he knows what he brings to the table.”
Pau does expect Jackson, in his role as team president, to turn the Knicks into a contender eventually.
“Obviously there’s a lot of factors that come into play, but I have faith in Phil that he’ll succeed,” Pau said.