If Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving both end up in New York, it will have been the worst-kept secret in NBA history.
Both players have the ability to opt out of their respective contracts and become free agents this summer, and despite protests from both, there’s no shortage of reports indicating they’ll team up to join the Knicks.
Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck wrote an early free agency preview, and he confirmed what others have been saying for quite some time.
“Rival executives will tell you, without hesitation, that Durant is bound for the Knicks; (and) that Irving is likely to join him,” Beck wrote Tuesday.
Now, as mentioned, nothing exceptionally revelatory there. But Beck goes on to say there’s still plenty of work to be done on the Knicks’ end for it to make it all work out.
“If the Knicks do land Durant and Irving, it would require all of their cap room — forcing them to renounce the rights to veterans like DeAndre Jordan — and leaving few options to build a sound supporting cast,” Beck writes. “Their best bet, rivals say, would be to trade some of the young pieces, along with draft picks, to acquire proven veterans.”
But …
“Few rival executives believe the Knicks will make it work — a reflection partially on the front office and partially on the owner,” Beck adds.
If Durant and Irving want to both play in New York, it’s hard to believe the Knicks won’t find a way to make it happen. The question both players need to answer, as Beck also notes, is where playing for a winning team lands on their list of priorities. If they just want to play together in the league’s biggest market, then we already know where they’ll go. But if they still value winning at all, the Knicks’ history — plus the salary cap — make New York seem like a less-than-desirable situation.
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