Report: Spurs Targeting Marc Gasol if Tim Duncan Retires

There will be plenty of suitors for free agent big man Marc Gasol next summer, with New York and San Antonio considered to be among the most interested parties.

The Knicks would have to come up with an amazing pitch to acquire Gasol, and the Spurs are reportedly looking for another big man to fill Tim Duncan’s Hall of Fame shoes.

In the end, though, it might make the most sense for Marc to stick with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Per the NY Daily News:

The Knicks’ main free-agent target, Marc Gasol, is also being targeted as a possible replacement to Tim Duncan assuming Ol’ Man Riverwalk retires this summer. The Knicks will be players for the Memphis center mainly because of the first three rules of real estate — location, location, location — and because Gasol is familiar with both Jackson and Derek Fisher since older brother Pau spent the best years of his career with the Lakers.

 

Otherwise, staying in Memphis will be appealing to Gasol, whose team is a legitimate championship contender. The Grizzlies can offer Gasol the most money, and he has grown to love the city, having lived there since high school when Pau broke in with the Grizzlies.

 

Signing with the Knicks strictly for basketball reasons is a tougher sell, although his Spanish teammate, Jose Calderon, will be a key part of the recruiting pitch. History, however, is not on the Knicks’ side. The last major free agent to make a significant impact was Allan Houston all the way back in the summer of the 1996. Back then, Jeff Van Gundy was winning big as the head coach, and Jim Dolan was learning to play the guitar, not running the Garden. Crazy coincidence, no?