Soon-to-be free agent Andrea Bargnani isn’t making any promises, but he would like to remain with the Knicks, as agent Leon Rose indicated to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. An earlier dispatch noted that the Knicks are open to re-signing him for the right price, and Isola advances that report, writing that the team will “strongly consider” doing so.
“Andrea is optimistic about what [team president] Phil [Jackson] is trying to accomplish and he certainly wants to be part of it,” Rose said. “But he’s a free agent this summer so it’s too early to predict what may or may not happen.”
While we wait to find out where the former No. 1 overall pick plays next season, here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:
- Brook Lopez revealed that he’s building a home at Disney World in Orlando, but he also said again that he wants to remain with the Nets as he spoke with Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. Lopez has a player option worth more than $16.744MM for next season, but he hasn’t lent any clarity to conflicting reports about whether he’ll exercise it.
- Bojan Bogdanovic and the Nets were both somewhat skeptical about just what sort of impact the draft-and-stash product would have even after he signed a three-year deal for the taxpayer’s mid-level exception this summer, writes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. Inconsistency earlier this season validated that uncertainty, but he’s played well since the All-Star break and is showing signs that he’s capable of helping the Nets through a period of roster transition in the years ahead, Bontemps observes.
- The Celtics are having success with undersized perimeter players, but that’s out of necessity, not by design, writes Paul Flannery of SB Nation, who hears from president of basketball operations Danny Ainge on the state of the team’s rebuilding. “We will make an attempt in free agency for sure but we have to be careful that we spend [money] correctly and on the right players and not just spend it because it’s available,” Ainge said of the offseason ahead. “We have to maintain that flexibility to get the right players.”