1) Missing out on Kyrie Irving
Need I say more?
While Irving may be one of the most skillful players to ever grace an NBA court, he’s proven, time and time again, that basketball may not be his #1 priority in life. Additionally, Kyrie has shown he’s unable to stay healthy for an entire season, and with his style of play, his injury woes should continue to hinder his career.
After the mess that David Fizdale and Steve Mills left in their wake, the Knicks’ overall outlook and future must be handled delicately. Bringing in a guy that stirs up as much commotion as Kyrie Irving would ruin the Knicks, even if it also meant having Kevin Durant on the team.
While trading away Porzingis doesn’t directly correlate with the Knicks potentially acquiring KD and Kyrie, had he never been moved, the Knicks would not have even been in the running or considered whatsoever. Even with losing our best player at the time, clearly, we dodged a major bullet in not bringing Irving to The Garden.