Daily Knicks
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New York Knicks: How a superstar signing impacts their incumbent team

By Rob Wolkenbrod

HOUSTON, TX - MAY 4: Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors looks on against the Houston Rockets during Game Three of the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2019 NBA Playoffs on May 4, 2019 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - MAY 4: Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors looks on against the Houston Rockets during Game Three of the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2019 NBA Playoffs on May 4, 2019 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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New York Knicks
Celtics Kyrie Irving (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) /

Kyrie Irving

Kyrie Irving‘s case is arguably the most interesting of the superstar free-agent bunch. He once committed to the Boston Celtics with crowd pleasing comments, and all seemed okay, until those words became less clear and more geared towards free agency.

Now, a once favored team to win the 2019 NBA Finals is just one game away from postseason elimination, which can only add fuel to the fire of Irving leaving.

The Celtics are hardly talentless and incapable of winning a championship. Their young core, with surrounding veterans, came within one game of the 2018 Finals, and that happened without Irving and Gordon Hayward, making the failure to reach expectations startling.

Without Irving, Boston will head somewhere else at point guard. Maybe they bring Terry Rozier back as the full-time starter and let “Scary Terry” return. The front office also has three first-round picks to work with in the draft, so one of them could replenish this position if Irving and Rozier leave.

But if the Celtics still have a team of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Al Horford leading the way, this can remain a playoff team in 2019-20. Their success depends on how Brown and Tatum develop, if they become just very good players or potential superstars. If the latter, head coach Brad Stevens’ team will survive. Otherwise, they may fall down a top-heavy Eastern Conference.

Irving, though, seems set for a Five Boroughs arrival — the New York Knicks or the Brooklyn Nets. Both will have cap space, and the Knicks can offer the prospect of playing with another superstar from the 2019 free agent class. It’s a fresh start for Irving after two interesting years in Boston.