New York Knicks: Five biggest storylines for 2019 offseason

1. If, or when will they sign in free agency?

“They” is general, but Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are specific and seemingly the players in line to join the New York Knicks this offseason, despite involvement in their respective teams’ playoff runs.

The Athletic’s Frank Isola reported Durant and Irving are not deciding if they will sign with the Knicks, but when and who puts ink on the dotted line first. That should offer some intrigue, but there are just under three months until free agency opens — ample time for decisions to change.

Durant’s Golden State Warriors and Irving’s Boston Celtics can both make the NBA Finals. It’s realistic. Then what? Will they actually opt to leave those teams for the blue and orange?

The Durant talk existed even with back-to-back titles in Golden State, but Irving’s situation had a different tune, with Boston’s difficulties to match expectations from nearly making the NBA Finals in June 2018. That turned Irving’s public words from definitively staying to unsure of the future.

Maybe, whatever happens this postseason does not matter, and Durant and Irving are locked into signing with the Knicks. If so, it’s only a countdown to the eventual day they can sign and return this organization into the NBA’s good graces.

There are other big-name options, but none of them have been linked to the Knicks via NBA reporting as much as Durant and Irving; that’s Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, Kemba Walker and Jimmy Butler.

The chance of not signing any of these players also exists. If that happens, this offseason is a disappointment, especially after the January cap-clearing trade to reach $70 million in cap space.

The New York Knicks have a landmark offseason ahead. Nothing is guaranteed, but it should provide the necessary semantics that accompanies this franchise.