The reasonable Knicks fans have come to the likely conclusion that landing Oklahoma City Thunder star and now free-agent Kevin Durant will be quite the long shot. Like most, they believe KD will sign a one-year deal with the Thunder in order to become a free agent in 2017 with teammate Russell Westbrook and take one more crack at getting to the NBA finals. The problem in the West is trying to get past multiple teams including the Clippers, Spurs, and of course the Warriors. There is only one king that rules the East, and Durant may just be able to overthrow him if he makes the right decision, and if not now, later. This is the slight sliver of hope Knicks fans are clinging to. With Carmelo Anthony, rookie and unicorn Kristaps Porzingis, and a massive upgrade at the PG position with former MVP Derrick Rose, Durant might just take his talents to the Big Apple.
Melo Gives KD the Real
While teams like the Warriors, Spurs, and Celtics, among others have already scheduled meetings with Durant, the Knicks have not yet made it onto that list and KD isn’t even sure they will. While in New York for the unveiling of the USA Olympic team, all he could say was that he’d “have to talk to [his] people and figure that stuff out.”
However, an unofficial recruitment is already under way as Anthony explained to EPSN on Monday. The two have been spotted at dinner together among other places including a selfie snapped by Bleacher Report, but it would be wise for Knicks fans to take this quality time with a grain of salt. The Olympic teammates also happen to be very good friends that keep in touch throughout the season. Anthony is merely giving KD the rundown, considering he was in the exact same position last season as a highly-coveted free-agent. He is not going to sell Durant on a fantasy regarding the Knicks or ask him to walk away from any amount of money. He will give him the good, the bad, and the ugly. And in New York it can often can get very, very ugly.
KD Just Wants to Have Fun Playing Ball
“We're friends. We hang out," Anthony told ESPN. "It's magnified now because he's a free agent and we're in New York. But last year nobody was talking about us hanging out, going to work out or going to dinner or things like that." Similarly, Durant acknowledged his long-time friendship with the New York Knicks star: “That is like my big brother right there. The best thing about all of us, none of the guys here have put any type of pressure. It has been cool.”
Durant has spent his entire 9-year career in OKC and is loved there, but as a free agent it all comes down to a basketball decision.
“I felt the same way when I was in Denver, spending 7½ years there and then to have to make a decision," Anthony said. "But you leave it up to him. He's going to make the best decision for him. I think that's the most important thing."
And according to Durant the right decision for him is the one in which he can simply have fun playing ball. Winning is fun, and while OKC can pay him the most money, OKC is not necessarily the best location for KD to win a ring. The Warriors might be the best place, but would he really “sell out” to play second-string to Steph Curry? Are the Miami Heat a likely destination given Chris Bosh’s pending medical problems? Was the Derrick Rose trade enough to entice to take his talents to the Big Apple?
It’ll be a long week of circulating rumors and waiting, but eventually July 1, the first day of free agency will arrive with all eyes on Kevin Durant… and then everybody else to follow.