Knicks shouldn’t be mentioned in Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving massive trade haul talks
What happened in the summer of 2019 ended up working out for the New York Knicks after all. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving decided to team up across the river with the Brooklyn Nets, and after not even having made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Nets could once again reclaim their spot at the bottom of the rankings.
Brooklyn fans thought that they were in the clear after Irving opted into his $37 million player option, but before the start of free agency on June 30, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Durant had requested a trade. From there, chaos ensued.
While the world would have to be ending for Sean Marks and Joe Tsai to decide to send either KD or Kyrie to the Knicks (much less both), New York has the assets for a Durant trade. And out of the two, he’s drawn far more interest from teams on the market simply because of who he is.
However, there’s been talk about the two wanting to still play together, but just not with the Nets. To acquire both, a team would have to essentially be willing to clean out a large portion of their roster and future picks. And no, it’s not something that the Knicks should do.
The Knicks shouldn’t pay attention to a possible Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving deal
Wojnarowski is the one who reported that the duo still wants to play together, but the likelihood of that happening is slim. One, a team would have to mortgage their entire future, and two, a team would have to be willing to risk imploding their future on top of that.
There’s reportedly interest in Irving being reunited with LeBron James in Los Angeles, but Shams Charania said on Tuesday that there’s “no traction” on that and he isn’t sure that it’s going to take place.
On the KD front, nothing new has been reported. Brooklyn has all of the control and could reportedly drag the trade discussions into training camp.
In case you can’t tell, New York dodged a major disaster. The Knicks would’ve had to deal with the same COVID-19 dilemma surrounding Irving’s vaccination status, which is what derailed the Nets’ season. You can’t deny the point guard’s talent, but he’s played in 103 games over the past three years due to various reasons.
Oh, and in case you forgot, New York just got a point guard of its own in Jalen Brunson, so if you were hoping that the Knicks would pursue Irving, keep dreaming. KD is a far more realistic trade option, but even then New York would have to give up a lot in return, as in a few young players and first-round picks.
The Knicks have had a solid offseason so far, which is a trend that needs to continue.
And if for some reason both KD and Kyrie are still on Brooklyn’s roster in 2022-23, it’ll be all or nothing. But we’ve heard that one before. Regardless of what happens, the Nets are in a bad, bad place.
