New York Knicks: How top 2019 free agents have played in contract year

Kevin Durant

Age: 30
Height, Weight: 6-foot-10, 240 pounds
Slash Line: .513/.359/.881
Season Averages: 27.4 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 5.7 APG, 0.8 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 1.9 3PM
Current Contract: $30 million ($31.5 million player option for 2019-20)

Like Leonard, but maybe more so over a longer period, Kevin Durant has a case to be the NBA’s top player, even with LeBron James still playing at a high level with the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s just 30-year-old and will be 31 by next season, so if the New York Knicks have the inside track, they will take on someone more than capable of leading them for the next four years.

It depends if Durant willingly departs the Golden State Warriors for his own team, which sits 30th among 30 teams in record. There’s little slowing him down, as well, aside from the occasional Draymond Green and Bay Area media stories, with another 27.4 points per game on 51.3 percent shooting.

The Knicks can pay Durant the $38 million starting salary on a max deal he’s likely owed, given his number of years in the NBA. Moving Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee assured that. It comes down to a desire for playing in a spotlighted market that will anoint him their basketball savior.

This will be free agency’s biggest domino to fall, and it could belong to the Knicks. Will the speculation come to fruition?