NBA Rumors: Knicks closing in on Robin Lopez since no one else will sign
By Josh Hill
The New York Knicks are striking out left and right this summer in free agency, but Robin Lopez could turn that all around for them.
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UPDATE [8:57pm ET] — According to Adrian Wojnarowski from Yahoo! Sports, the Knicks are closing in on a deal with Lopez that would pay him as much as $13 million per season.
Free agent center Robin Lopez discussing deal with Knicks that would earn him in range of $12M-$13M per season, league sources tell Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2015
The New York Knicks are a dumpster fire franchise searching for a way to stope the flames from licking their hopes away. The future is bleak for the Knickerbockers, and the present isn’t being too kind to them either. Greg Monroe was supposed to sign with the Knicks, at least that’s what the front office assumed. Reports of it being ‘as close to a done deal as possible’ surfaced and got fans excited. Those hopes were dashed on Thursday when Monroe signed with the Milwaukee Bucks. Not all hope is lost though, as the Knicks are lining up deals for other big men to come in and replace Monroe on the roster. According to Adrian Wojnarowski from Yahoo! Sports, the Knicks are closing in on signing Robin Lopez after they missed on Greg Monroe.
Sources: With New York losing out on Greg Monroe, the process of the Knicks working to close on deal with Robin Lopez will gain momentum.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 2, 2015
Losing out on Monroe is a massive blow to to the Knicks, as they were planning on him signing so much so that it seemed like a foregone conclusion. With Monroe in Milwaukee — surprisingly — the Knicks are now on to the next best thing, which might be better than Monroe.
It’s hard to lose out on a young big man like Monroe, but Robin Lopez is hardly a push over. He has developed his game immensely over the years and is now one of the top tier big men in the NBA. He’s played mostly in the Western Conference his entire career and a move to the East could be the best thing possible for his development.
The Eastern Conference is far more forgiving than the West, and Lopez in New York could end up being a steal of a signing — should it happen. So far, the Knicks have made the moves we expected them to and have been blown off in ways we didn’t see coming but aren’t surprised to see.
Lopez is one of their last hopes to resume this offseason, and if they miss on him things could get ugly very quickly.