New York Knicks: Kevin Durant a ‘real possibility’ in free agency
The New York Knicks have become a “real possibility” for Kevin Durant in free agency, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Once the New York Knicks traded Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee‘s contracts, it widened their cap space for free agency to roughly $70 million. It’s enough to offer two max deals, with a star-studded class of players set for the open market.
This only increased the noise, however, for New York’s pursuit of Kevin Durant, a long-time target for July. He’s frequently linked to them in reports, and these latest words took it another step forward.
On Wednesday’s trade-deadline special on ESPN, Adrian Wojnarowski said the Knicks are a “real possibility” for Durant in free agency. Zach Lowe added this connection is “really loud.” Although other teams are in the mix.
"Lowe: “The Knicks noise is really, really loud.Wojnarowski: “The Warriors are preparing for the possibility that [Durant] is going to leave. They’re gonna have to reconfigure this dynasty without him. They hope he stays.“New York is a real possibility and I think the Clippers, too, if he wants to stay on the West Coast.”"
The Knicks can offer Durant a max salary of $38 million, given his 10-plus years of NBA experience. They were previously unable to do this, as Hardaway and Lee’s salaries combined for about $30 million.
As Lowe said, though, it’s just “noise.” The NBA season still has two months to play out and four rounds of playoff games afterward, most, if not all of which the Golden State Warriors will play a part in; they have made the Finals in each season since 2015.
If the Warriors win their third consecutive title, it will more than accomplish what Durant joined Golden State to do. By staying past 2018-19, along with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, they’d probably remain favorites for the 2020 championship. 2021, as well, with or without Green who will hit free agency after 2019-20.
Is that too comfortable for Durant? Who knows but, if so, he can make the Knicks his team, like LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, and set sights on an NBA championship, shedding the criticism of joining the team he couldn’t beat, to dominate the League.
The 2018-19 Knicks have the NBA’s worst record, however. They have a long way go to become competitive, but with Durant’s arrival, another top free agent and a high draft pick in June, this team is suddenly interesting,
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If the Knicks sign Durant, it’s their biggest acquisition since the 2011 Carmelo Anthony trade. Unlike that, they’ll have expectations to reach the Eastern Conference Finals. There’s no Miami Heat-esque situation in the East, for now, so there’s an opening for success. Whether the front office designs a roster capable of this, though, will be fascinating to watch this summer.