‘Always’ out of it
Knicks never had shot at Durant, who liked Nets from start
Kevin Durant said there were two options for his free agency, and the Knicks — despite their copious cap space and confidence from owner James Dolan — weren’t on the list.
“If I was leaving the Warriors, it was always going to be for the Nets,” Durant told Yahoo! in his first interview since signing with Brooklyn. “They got the pieces and a creative front office. I just like what they were building.”
If true, it’s hard not to view Durant’s statement as an indictment on the strategy of the Knicks, who traded their one star — Kristaps Porzingis — to create cap space and then struck out on all the top targets. They finished with an NBA-worst 65 defeats last season without a discernible playing style, but owner James Dolan was still vowing free agency success in March. Dolan couldn’t reveal names at the time, but the top target was Durant. The Knicks spent two years preparing for his free agency. Many in the league thought it was inevitable the former MVP was headed to the Garden.
According to the Yahoo! story, however, Durant viewed the Knicks connection as “unwarranted, irresponsible chatter that took on a life of its own.” Of course, Durant could’ve killed the Knicks talk last season but never explicitly refuted it. Instead, he mostly avoided the questions and said he focused on basketball.
There was speculation Durant would’ve still signed with the Knicks before tearing his Achilles in June, but that was contradicted by his comment of it “always” being about the Nets or Warriors. Now with
Brooklyn on a four-year, $164 million contract, Durant is unlikely to play next season but won’t rule it out.
He also said the torn Achilles — sustained in Game 5 of the Finals — was not the fault of the Warriors or a misdiagnosis of a previous calf strain.
“I don’t know (if I’ll play next season),” Durant told Yahoo! Sports. “Just like I didn’t know I was going to get hurt. I don’t know. We’ll see. I’m early in the process. So I’m grinding every day. I’m not even trying to think that far. That’s not going to do me any good. So I just try to focus on what I can control right now, second by second. Who knows? We’ll see.”
The Nets came away a big winner of the summer by signing Durant and Kyrie Irving, while the team across the Manhattan Bridge settled for Julius Randle, Marcus Morris and Bobby Portis. On the first day of free agency, the Knicks put out a statement basically apologizing to fans. A sourced report soon surfaced that Dolan didn’t want to sign Durant, anyway, which felt more like sour grapes than reality. The team also began telling media that it canceled a meeting with Kawhi Leonard before it could be rejected. In the end, the Knicks didn’t get a sitdown with any of the star free agents.
Durant rejected a fiveyear, $221 million offer from Golden State to sign with the Nets and his buddy Irving, joining a team on the rise with an established style and culture.
“Because I wanted to,” Durant said when asked why he chose the Nets. “The basketball was appealing.”
Knicks’ basketball, apparently, was not as enticing.