Kevin Durant Considering Warriors, Nets, Knicks, Clippers The Golden State Warriors, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks and even the Los Angeles Clippers are "significant considerations" for Kevin Durant in free agency, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. Durant is currently recalibrating his decision and what sitting out the 19-20 season will impact him. "One thing I'm told is he is really focused on making his decision independently of anyone else and that includes Kyrie Irving," said Wojnarowski. "He's at a point in his career where he's going to decide really essentially on a four-year deal elsewhere or a five-year deal with Golden State, where he's going to spend the rest of his prime."
A real kick in the nuts to Knicks fans if it happens. Nets Considered 'Frontrunner' To Sign Kevin Durant The Brooklyn Nets' chances of signing both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving appear to be improving. Durant has been most strongly linked to the New York Knicks throughout most of the season, but the situation is believed to have changed. "The Nets are gaining confidence they can pull this off," said Brian Windhorst on The Jump. "They're continuing to make moves. They've made three moves in the last week. They're right there for a second slot. "I think they're the frontrunner," added Kendrick Perkins. "I absolutely do. I think the Nets are the frontrunner to land K.D." "He's not the only person involved in the NBA who has told me exactly that," replied Windhorst. "I am not ruling out the Knicks at all." Perkins further explained his statement. "Sources tell me that the Nets are the frontrunner," said Perkins. "We're going to leave it at that."
Knicks fans shouldn’t be too upset if KD doesn’t come...his days as a top 10 player are done the next time he steps on the court he’ll be 32, and he’s probably gonna need that entire season to get readjusted...then we’re talking about having 33 yo post-Achilles KD with Father Time calling if KD goes to the Nets, he’s gonna be hated in NY...whenever KD is walking the streets legions of Knicks fans are gonna let him have it the Nets are so irrelevant in NY it’s not even funny...they’ve got like 10 fans...sure they’ll get a surge of bandwagoners, but Knicks fans currently outnumber Nets fans in like 20-1 ratios in BK, and it’s even worse in places like Queens and Manhattan, so KD will be hated in his own city...we’ll see how his sensitive ass handles it Kyrie and post-Achilles KD isn’t gonna win a damn thing either, so the Nets will still have some work to do
I just want him to leave the Warriors. Don't really care where he ends up if he goes east. Durant to the Nets will be good, his days of winning championship will be over in my opinion.
Bucher: Let's sort through what we know as of now... • Durant and Irving, league sources say, have met twice in recent weeks to discuss their desire to continue their careers on the same team, an idea forged while playing together on the U.S. national team. The first meeting took place in the Bay Area while Durant nursed a strained right calf; the second occurred in New York shortly after Durant had surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. • Questions that linger over whether the strained calf led to the Achilles injury, and if the Golden State Warriors made him aware of that possibility, remain unanswered. But the indication from several league sources is that Durant is not happy with the team, and the presumption is that it stems from whatever role Warriors officials played in his decision to suit up. Coach Steve Kerr says he was told Durant could not further injure himself by playing, which obviously proved not to be true. If Durant was told the same, it would give credence to the notion that, as one league executive claims, "He's really pissed off at the Warriors." • Ever since Durant signed a two-year deal with an opt-out clause after one season last summer, speculation has run rampant, both inside and outside the Warriors organization, that he intended to leave the Bay Area, with team and league sources pointing to the Knicks as his intended destination. In an overtime loss against the Los Angeles Clippers in November, Durant and Draymond Green argued over an end-of-game decision by Green not to give Durant the ball. Green, later that same night, reportedly questioned Durant's commitment to the team. Although both players later insisted the dispute was overblown and quickly resolved, sources familiar with Durant's off-court business say Durant has since purchased a new home in New York and moved his belongings there. Durant already has multiple ties to the Knicks. General manager Scott Perry was an assistant GM with the Seattle/Oklahoma City franchise when the team drafted him. Durant is the godfather to a daughter of Royal Ivey (Lyric Ella), a fellow University of Texas alum, former Thunder teammate and now a Knicks assistant coach. DeAndre Jordan, who played for the Knicks this past season and is also a free agent, is another Durant confidant. Rich Kleiman, Durant's agent and business manager, is also a New Yorker and a Knicks fan who allegedly has long dreamed of being part of the organization. • Irving, meanwhile, also recently purchased a new home in South Orange, New Jersey, but league sources say he is pressing Durant to join him with the Nets and is trying to recruit Jordan as well. Durant did have his Achilles repaired by a Nets team physician, Dr. Martin O'Malley, but the New York Post's Mark Fischer quoted one of O'Malley's medical colleagues warning not to read too much into that. • While sources close to Durant and the teams involved say neither the Knicks nor Nets are concerned about signing him to a maximum four-year deal even if he's unavailable most of next season, his injury has shrunk the number of teams interested overall. One league executive said the Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers, who were both at one point interested, have backed off their pursuit because they are focused on building off their playoff success this past season. • Though Durant is the one who's injured, Irving enters free agency as damaged goods as well. The chemistry issues that undermined his current team, the Celtics, has executives throughout the league as concerned about his leadership skills as they are enthralled with his talent. Signing him as a package deal with Durant is far more appealing than doing so as a lone addition, where he would be the best player on the team, recreating the dynamic that failed so miserably in Boston. [...] • More than a few of the players listed above, along with 76ers free-agent forward Tobias Harris, could land maximum-salary contracts—or terms close to one—in part because of their appeal in landing or keeping another bona fide max-salary player, several league executives say. The Knicks, for example, are not likely to offer Walker anything close to a max-salary deal unless A) they strike out on Leonard and Irving, and B) acquiring him is the link to signing Durant. Butler and Harris appear to be in the same pool: players who could command bigger contracts if signing them is a prerequisite for landing Durant or Leonard or keeping James happy. Similarly, the Bucks are expected to offer Middleton a max-salary contract to maintain their chance of keeping resident superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo when he enters free agency following the 2020-21 season. Thompson is almost certain to receive a max-salary offer, with the Warriors looking to persuade their fanbase the team will be (eventually) worth paying top dollar for tickets in its new San Francisco arena. Which brings it all back to KD, who also developed a kinship with Butler on the national team and supposedly expressed a desire that they play together. Just as he supposedly told Thompson they had unfinished business after they suffered their respective injuries. Will these envisioned alliances or intentions become a reality? Which ones? In light of all the aspirations of players and teams alike, there's only one certainty: Someone is not going to get what they had hoped for.
Yep. We've seen KDs prime. I'm pretty sure of that. The Knicks would be better just building their young team and waiting for the next big FA class...which is next year. Giannis will be a UFA, along with Anthony Davis (maybe he pulls a Dwight after one year in LaLa land...) along with Oladipo, Dame, Gobert, Beal...but they should shift their entire focus on selling the Knicks to Giannis.
include Williams dead money, roster charge and without Harris salary 75 million cap room Each stars 20 million contract pay cut Durant 33m to start Irving 28m Jordan 14m Total 75m seed projected 9th seed in 2020 5th seed in 2021 load management
