New York Knicks center Andrea Bargnani might stay in the Big Apple after all. Team president Phil Jackson is keen on re-signing Bargnani as a free agent this summer, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Bargnani had been the subject of trade rumors throughout the season, but what he's done for the Knicks in his first 10 games back from injury reportedly has Jackson interested in bringing the 7-footer back after the season.
"According to an NBA source, Jackson still is a fan and has interest in bringing Bargnani back for the right price because of his length, post defense and ability to score and pass in the structured system," Berman wrote Sunday. "Bargnani's market value is one of the great mysteries of the summer, pending how he finishes the final 21 games."
One NBA executive believes Bargnani, who's at least 20 points in three of his last five games, will at the very least get offered a one-year deal from the Knicks.
"He's for sure going to get - at least - a one-year minimum deal," the executive told The Post.
A personnel director also thinks Bargnani getting a one-year deal from the Knicks isn't far-fetched.
"He's too much of a specialist," the personnel director told The Post. "He's been healthy too small of a period. I could see him as a minimum guy with low risk to a team on a short-term deal."
Bargnani, 29, came to New York last summer in a trade with Toronto. He played in only 42 games last season before suffering a season-ending elbow injury in January of 2014. Calf and hamstring strains kept him sidelined for most of this season, appearing in only two games before his return on Feb. 9.
