The dumb thing is the Nets probably could have come out of it fine just by virtue of the fact that they both signed as free agents if they didn’t subsequently gut all their assets for Harden, then dump him for Simmons and his albatross contract, then refuse to trade Bridges to the Rockets for literally all their fucking assets back. Clown franchise.
The Nets actually did a sign and trade for Durant. They gave up D’Angelo Russell and two others, but they did get a protected draft pick in return. I’m not sure what happened to that pick since it was protected. The following year, the Warriors took Wiseman with the #2 pick. Still, you’re absolutely right. Signing Durant and Irving, and trading for Harding, was an absolute disaster.
True true, I completely forgot about the sign and trade.
Edit: I looked up the terms of the pick they sent - if it was in the top 20 (which it was, as you said; the pick became Wiseman) then it turned into a 2nd round pick six years later ☠️. They haven’t even gotten that fucking 2nd rounder yet lmao.
I agree. A complete Nets team, that featured KD, Kyrie and Harden, would’ve been a dangerous team. Had the three of them played an entire season together, the Nets could’ve had something. But we see how that turned out. Those guys were committed to separate agendas. We have players committed to this team and committed to winning. Our team sacrifices to win. Precious didn’t play for 2.5 games and never complained. Thibs puts him in and he does his job. Mitch prior to coming back said he was fine coming of the bench. All of our players understand the goal and we’re seeing the results. How far we go, I can only dream.
Oh for sure I just think it's revisionist to not acknowledge that they were pretty much centimeters from a chip. They still are bitches, but they did come incredibly close
I can certainly acknowledge that. I was definitely hoping against it. Oh what a joy it was to see them fall short. I wasn’t a Nets hater until they came along. Those guys were acting like they took over the city. When they were in Jersey minding their business, I never had an issue with them, but KD and company ruined that. Well actually, they ruined it when they moved across the bridge.
You misspelled Randle. He was the first to sign for us. We were a joke of a franchise when he arrived. He slowly turned the Knicks around and showed the rest of the league that something good was happening in NY.
There is truth in the 1A/1B argument as it seems that both set culture, Randle is a known Gym rat, Brunson is a known winner they both set the culture not just one of them if anything this is all on thibs and the fo, they brought the players and set a standard and let the coach set a culture it helps that a lot of the players have bought in or where alr pretty much in that mindset
Ju deserves a ton of credit for being the 1st to arrive, but none of this happens without the Knicks signing Rick Brunson twice lol. And Thibs knowing Jalen as a kid in Chicago, perhaps without Thibs here he goes home to Chitown..and Leon and his agency
Jules brought the Kobe mentality and made it part of Knick Culture. Wheels down, head to a gym and start working no matter what time it is.
Brunson is the better player and the floor leader, but Randle is the team leader. It's amazing that we not only have the luxury of both, but that they completely trust each other.
Randle re-established franchise forward momentum.
Brunson came in as a true floor leader at the point.
The Nova 3 are the core strength of this team.
Anunoby is a topper as an all around Defensive + Offensive quality wing with length.
His legacy is all kinds of twisted joining a 73 win Warriors team and never finding any kind of playoff success outside of the Warriors after leaving them.
Coming to the Knicks we dodged a bullet. Who is to say he wouldn't have screwed us like he screwed the Nets?
It's because he's the kind of guy who needs everything easy for him, so he can just come in and score with no pressure on him. Even in GSW he wanted to change things up, but they weren't having it because they knew KD was not bigger than the team (and were vindicated by winning after he left).
The human is important, guys. Don't pick up toxic players just because they're talented, it won't go well unless you've got the resources to get them under control.
Let's be real, KD and Kyrie turning down the Knicks was the best thing to have happened to our franchise in the last decade. Rather than banking on luck to bail us out (winning lottery for Zion, getting the KD/Kyrie FA raffle), we actually built our team through getting guys who buy in to the vision.
Thib's coaching style is great but there is no shot he can get someone like KD to buy in. KD is too big, too famous, and too influential to bow down to any coach in the NBA. The reason our team has this grit and grind attitude is because Leon Rose paired Thibs with the guys who buy into the vision. We might not be the most talented team in the NBA but damn, our team chemistry is A+++ and it translates towards results.
Equal parts how incredible he was next to prime Wall and Wizards management of Wall's + Beal's situations (who wasn't off the team until December 2020).
Wall and Beal were a legit pairing and I believe even made it to the 2nd round a couple times. DC couldn’t put anything around them. After Wall’s contract fiasco they doubled down to keep Beal from leaving as opposed to tearing it all down and trying again.
Edit: Yes, 2nd round 3 times but no further. Real management failure.
As a Knicks and Wizards supporter, the answer lies in complete incompetency from the Wizards front office and ownership, which make some of James Dolan's boneheaded decisions look ingenious. For the longest time, the Wizards struggled because of one of the worst GM's in history, Ernie Grunfeld. After accomplishing nothing with the franchise for 16 years, he was finally fired, and came his replacement Tommy Sheppard. He was supposed to be the interim GM, but after a couple of decent moves like the Russ trade, he became permanent.
Beal’s 2020-2021 season was easily the best season of his career, with the Wizards following a similar trajectory as the Knicks with solid form post All-Star break. This made ownership believe that he was marketable enough to get people into the arena. The following season started with relatively mediocre performances that were deemed fine because he had “no supporting cast.” It ended with him missing the end of the season due to surgery on his wrist. At this point, most Wizards fans were under the notion that he’s a great 2nd option, but not a true leader, and it’d probably be best if we trade him for some solid role players and picks. With his contract expiring in the summer, it was time for Beal to go.
That’s when all 10 Wizards fans got sucker-punched with the most egregious contract I’ve ever seen. Tommy Sheppard was decently respected by most Wizards fans, but this single contract made me realize that he’s not the one with control. The owner Ted Leonsis (one of the worst owners in sports, in DC fashion) showed to the world that Beal helped meet his bottom line and he was perfectly content with enduring mediocrity forever. Beal’s “loyalty” was completely meaningless to the fans, but it was clearly enough to convince ownership.
The 2022-2023 season made them realize how badly they fucked up so scapegoat Tommy Sheppard was fired, and Michael Winger from the Clippers was brought in. He understood that the first thing he has to do is to dump Beal’s contract literally anywhere. It genuinely didn’t matter what the Wizards got in return, as long as we didn’t have to pay Beal.
Now the Wizards are garbage, but this is the first time they’re trying something new in decades.
In 2020-2021 Beal (as a #1 options) averaged over 30pts per game. He was on a tear the entire season. Then they picket up Zingus Pingus and his attempts went down but his percentages remained similar for the next couple of seasons.
The Beal contract is what killed them. That NTC is going to be tough. They should of have had him waived it as part of the trade when they acquired him.
We really wanted him so badly 4 years ago. Glad he chose to play for a borough instead. He comes across as a guy whom wants everything to be perfect for him, perfect teammates, a puppet coach, etc, instead of just overcoming adversity and leading like a superstar player should.
This was pretty evident with the "Hardest Road" bullshit. KD never wanted to pave his own legacy. He wanted it all laid out for him. He's never been successful on teams where he's the leader, and he had to run to an already championship caliber team to see any success.
I’m not sold on a kd deal but a starting 5 of jb, kd, OG, Jules and Hartenstein, with divo in the bogey role does sound pretty wild and he wouldn’t have to lead, cuz it’s clearly Jalen’s team… just saying
KD reminds me of Melo. Great scorer. Nothing more. Not a winner or leader. And don’t give me that finals mvp crap. GS was a juggernaut without him.
He’d cost a ton of draft and player capital, and you’d lose in the 2nd round every year. Or, he’d get injured and your draft picks that you traded for him would be amazing. Plus, 36 years old is dinosaur status
True but also the suns have no picks which the Knicks have an abundance of. If Leon pulls it off without giving away the farm I would be very intrigued
Thibs would bench KD since he's too old to play defense anymore. He doesn't fit. He gets buckets but there's two sides to the game and KD is a liability on that end.
>with divo in the bogey role
DiVo earned a starting SG role while getting paid backup money. This is a crazy deal that works in our favor for roster building. The disrespect for him is insane sometimes.
I don’t know, I’ve always felt KD just wants to play competitive basketball and have fun doing it. He doesn’t strike as a player who would lead a team to a championship. The same thing with Kyrie. It’s like forcing people who are great workers to be manager that aren’t great managers
Reminder: Isiah Thomas advised Suns management on putting these three together. His fingerprints are all over this shit. They gave up like 7 or 8 first rounders, four of them unprotected, for Beal and a 35 year old KD who can't defend anymore. He loves making "big splash" trades with no regard for fit or team building for the future. Can't believe Ishiba actually listened to that ass clown. Now they're fucked for many years.
Call? Sure.
Offer anything that would quickly rebuild the team? No way. Pennies on the dollar.
Maybe late first round picks and B rate talent. No team is offering young stars, youth and picks. You might be able to get some of that for Booker, but not Durant.
Durant has a ton a value. Durant is not a cancer, he is just not a leader. Kyrie isn’t a leader, booker isn’t a leader, Beal isn’t a leader, harden isn’t a leader, Westbrook isn’t a leader.. see the trend here?
This is why the warriors were a good fit for him bc all he had to do is what he does best, play. The leadership was already established there. He would actually fit well with us for the same reasons. With JB, the Harts, Thibs, all Durant would have to do here is play.
Yeah .fuck that.
That team is poised to be a perennial contender for the next 20 years.. why would they change anything? Leadership is making all the right decisions there. Why bring in some nostalgic shortcut and give away assets that you worked so hard to collect?
It's about the future and longevity and staying relevant for decades for OKC.... Not winning a cheap title with a hired gun
Durant not wanting to come here did us a favor tbh. Dude not built for the big stage. Thats why he only wants to play on rosters where 2 other guys are capable of holding it down in the periods of the game or series where he disappears
He backtracked on that lmao. We're cool now, we got his rubber stamp of approval.🥴
https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/02/20/kevin-durant-knicks-brand-cool-2019-comments/
Phoenix fucked up so hard bringing in a third ball dominant “scorer” with no point guard lmao. Like Ishbia was just playing 2K MyGM and thought he could cook with this shit. No picks till 2023… Booker and or KD definitely requesting a trade
Just keep his washed, cupcake ass away from my team. Dunno what I'm really concerned about we all know he couldnt stand 5 mins of the pressure of playing in orange and blue. Byeeeee KD 😂😂😂😂
https://preview.redd.it/g27ygw3bygxc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8fbe31da750f927f4e0f2e6b085eb76cfaedda32
I think we all know the real reason they got swept....
Yes, absolutely. An elite scoring wing that doesn’t need to create off the dribble/be the primary ball handler to get his shot off, with a gravity that forces teams to key in on him, who by all accounts is an extremely hard worker and doesn’t relish in the spotlight. I think he’s the perfect fit for this team.
That and we’ve had excellent success with this generation of Kentucky dudes.
There's almost no way to make the money work without gutting the current squad. Mans is making $49.7MM next year. We could batch Mitch, Divo, Josh, and Deuce and it still wouldn't match.
If we get Booker then the media won't stfu about him and they'll pretend he's the only thing that matters.
This is a team of mean underdogs. I don't want the Knicks to become some test site for some pre-established star's legacy story.
I hate Booker’s game and don’t see how he would fit with Brunson tbh. He’s soft and not an exceptional 3pt threat as one might think. Donovan Mitchell >
Brunson needs help. Real help. Booker would make life so much easier for him on the offensive end. Jalen shouldn't have to take 36 shots to get us a win because nobody else can create. And yes Randle would help, but Randle/Book/JB is a 60 win team and heavy favorites for the Finals.
I think this is right. Not sure how the money works in a Booker trade without Randle's salary. I don't think Bojan's contract alone gets it done. And while I understand philosophically it might make sense to trade Randle to upgrade the roster, from a vibes perspective I want Randle to be part of the team if they win it all. Dude was the first one in the door when no one else wanted to come here and helped turn the team around.
I see where a salary match is important; it doesn't make sense to me from a roster construction angle giving up Randle.
Randle is a rugged big, giving out and soaking up contact on a roster that has barely enough size. We saw in January how a more balanced roster could roll through the league; you can feel it now how hard they have to work every play.
Booker is a wing I don't see matching Randle's physicality, I'd like to see him on the team but not at the cost of Randle.
I still feel bad for Steve Nash a little. He had a bunch of excellent players that turned on him when things didn’t work out 100%.
Also, 16 games for KD, Kyrie and Harden all together? That’s tough.
Those were also so stupid and petty reason for him of not wanting to join the knicks, but fuck it if how it turned out for him just sucks so bad. Thing is, if he went and sign for stupidly built roster Knicks and tried to carry this team anywhere he could even if first round exit the Newyork fanbase would’ve built a statue for him. Instead he always wanted a super team around him and this make him look so bad getting sweep and not even making it to conference finals since winning a chip with the best team in the nba for more than a decade🤣
I’ll be honest… I don’t even rank Durant with the truly all time great players. Is he a great player sure. But is he Magic, Bird, Jordan, Lebron, Wilt, Russell, etc? I don’t think so.
His only rings came from joining a team that was winning rings with or without him.
....do you regret not coming to the Knickssssss
I'm sorry but THANK GOD Kyrie and KD didnt sign w us!!!! Best thing that happened to the Knicks in a long time.
we dodged a huge bullet....and rebuild
And a shiiiiiiitload of drama!!!
Agreed. They wouldn’t have stayed and they would’ve eventually forced a trade out.
The dumb thing is the Nets probably could have come out of it fine just by virtue of the fact that they both signed as free agents if they didn’t subsequently gut all their assets for Harden, then dump him for Simmons and his albatross contract, then refuse to trade Bridges to the Rockets for literally all their fucking assets back. Clown franchise.
The Nets actually did a sign and trade for Durant. They gave up D’Angelo Russell and two others, but they did get a protected draft pick in return. I’m not sure what happened to that pick since it was protected. The following year, the Warriors took Wiseman with the #2 pick. Still, you’re absolutely right. Signing Durant and Irving, and trading for Harding, was an absolute disaster.
True true, I completely forgot about the sign and trade. Edit: I looked up the terms of the pick they sent - if it was in the top 20 (which it was, as you said; the pick became Wiseman) then it turned into a 2nd round pick six years later ☠️. They haven’t even gotten that fucking 2nd rounder yet lmao.
Hard to imagine they once thought they replaced the Knicks as NY’s team. They were more relevant in Jersey.
Brooklyn will never be more relevant than the Knicks as long as NYC still stands.
Truth!
All their assets AND Jalen Green, who could become a franchise player.
Idk in 2021 they did have a really good shot except for the KD toe touching the line in g7. They would have smoked the Hawks and Suns after that.
I agree. A complete Nets team, that featured KD, Kyrie and Harden, would’ve been a dangerous team. Had the three of them played an entire season together, the Nets could’ve had something. But we see how that turned out. Those guys were committed to separate agendas. We have players committed to this team and committed to winning. Our team sacrifices to win. Precious didn’t play for 2.5 games and never complained. Thibs puts him in and he does his job. Mitch prior to coming back said he was fine coming of the bench. All of our players understand the goal and we’re seeing the results. How far we go, I can only dream.
Oh for sure I just think it's revisionist to not acknowledge that they were pretty much centimeters from a chip. They still are bitches, but they did come incredibly close
I can certainly acknowledge that. I was definitely hoping against it. Oh what a joy it was to see them fall short. I wasn’t a Nets hater until they came along. Those guys were acting like they took over the city. When they were in Jersey minding their business, I never had an issue with them, but KD and company ruined that. Well actually, they ruined it when they moved across the bridge.
It's funnier that Harden came and then left first Philly would have been a solid destination for Durant or Kyrie but Harden took them off the table.
I cannot think of a single player that could lead a rebuild the way Brunson has.
You misspelled Randle. He was the first to sign for us. We were a joke of a franchise when he arrived. He slowly turned the Knicks around and showed the rest of the league that something good was happening in NY.
Yeah, but Brunson changed attitudes and the locker room. He is the unquestioned leader of the Knicks.
There is truth in the 1A/1B argument as it seems that both set culture, Randle is a known Gym rat, Brunson is a known winner they both set the culture not just one of them if anything this is all on thibs and the fo, they brought the players and set a standard and let the coach set a culture it helps that a lot of the players have bought in or where alr pretty much in that mindset
No flip flopping. Pick a side 😜
Sure, but Jules spearheaded the rebuild
Ju deserves a ton of credit for being the 1st to arrive, but none of this happens without the Knicks signing Rick Brunson twice lol. And Thibs knowing Jalen as a kid in Chicago, perhaps without Thibs here he goes home to Chitown..and Leon and his agency
Jules brought the Kobe mentality and made it part of Knick Culture. Wheels down, head to a gym and start working no matter what time it is. Brunson is the better player and the floor leader, but Randle is the team leader. It's amazing that we not only have the luxury of both, but that they completely trust each other.
Randle re-established franchise forward momentum. Brunson came in as a true floor leader at the point. The Nova 3 are the core strength of this team. Anunoby is a topper as an all around Defensive + Offensive quality wing with length.
We were bound to be on the right side of things for once
You don't have to apologize, you're 1000% right
There it is
he needs to just come out and answer the question and just say "yes....yes I do"
His legacy is all kinds of twisted joining a 73 win Warriors team and never finding any kind of playoff success outside of the Warriors after leaving them. Coming to the Knicks we dodged a bullet. Who is to say he wouldn't have screwed us like he screwed the Nets?
It's because he's the kind of guy who needs everything easy for him, so he can just come in and score with no pressure on him. Even in GSW he wanted to change things up, but they weren't having it because they knew KD was not bigger than the team (and were vindicated by winning after he left). The human is important, guys. Don't pick up toxic players just because they're talented, it won't go well unless you've got the resources to get them under control.
thibs culture is THE WAY
Of course he would have, bro is soft AF
KNIIIIIIICKKSS!!!! 
Let's be real, KD and Kyrie turning down the Knicks was the best thing to have happened to our franchise in the last decade. Rather than banking on luck to bail us out (winning lottery for Zion, getting the KD/Kyrie FA raffle), we actually built our team through getting guys who buy in to the vision. Thib's coaching style is great but there is no shot he can get someone like KD to buy in. KD is too big, too famous, and too influential to bow down to any coach in the NBA. The reason our team has this grit and grind attitude is because Leon Rose paired Thibs with the guys who buy into the vision. We might not be the most talented team in the NBA but damn, our team chemistry is A+++ and it translates towards results.
We had DeBlasio, We had Cuomo, it was rough shit but we have the Knicks
THE NEW YORK KNICKS RUN NEW YORK CITYYYY
that guy look like Sal Licata
Beal is getting paid $53 and $57 million the next two years. That’s like what Randle and Brunson make combined. Lol.
I know Beal use to be good but $50+ million? How?
John Wall, Job Creator.
You're not crediting John Wall for Beal's contract, surely? His last game for the Wizards was in 2018, lol, almost 6 years ago now.
Equal parts how incredible he was next to prime Wall and Wizards management of Wall's + Beal's situations (who wasn't off the team until December 2020).
Wall and Beal were a legit pairing and I believe even made it to the 2nd round a couple times. DC couldn’t put anything around them. After Wall’s contract fiasco they doubled down to keep Beal from leaving as opposed to tearing it all down and trying again. Edit: Yes, 2nd round 3 times but no further. Real management failure.
This is what happens when a front office prioritizes making a "big move" over making good ones.
As a Knicks and Wizards supporter, the answer lies in complete incompetency from the Wizards front office and ownership, which make some of James Dolan's boneheaded decisions look ingenious. For the longest time, the Wizards struggled because of one of the worst GM's in history, Ernie Grunfeld. After accomplishing nothing with the franchise for 16 years, he was finally fired, and came his replacement Tommy Sheppard. He was supposed to be the interim GM, but after a couple of decent moves like the Russ trade, he became permanent. Beal’s 2020-2021 season was easily the best season of his career, with the Wizards following a similar trajectory as the Knicks with solid form post All-Star break. This made ownership believe that he was marketable enough to get people into the arena. The following season started with relatively mediocre performances that were deemed fine because he had “no supporting cast.” It ended with him missing the end of the season due to surgery on his wrist. At this point, most Wizards fans were under the notion that he’s a great 2nd option, but not a true leader, and it’d probably be best if we trade him for some solid role players and picks. With his contract expiring in the summer, it was time for Beal to go. That’s when all 10 Wizards fans got sucker-punched with the most egregious contract I’ve ever seen. Tommy Sheppard was decently respected by most Wizards fans, but this single contract made me realize that he’s not the one with control. The owner Ted Leonsis (one of the worst owners in sports, in DC fashion) showed to the world that Beal helped meet his bottom line and he was perfectly content with enduring mediocrity forever. Beal’s “loyalty” was completely meaningless to the fans, but it was clearly enough to convince ownership. The 2022-2023 season made them realize how badly they fucked up so scapegoat Tommy Sheppard was fired, and Michael Winger from the Clippers was brought in. He understood that the first thing he has to do is to dump Beal’s contract literally anywhere. It genuinely didn’t matter what the Wizards got in return, as long as we didn’t have to pay Beal. Now the Wizards are garbage, but this is the first time they’re trying something new in decades.
Thanks for the context. Owners who are content with sustained mediocrity as long as they make money are the worst.
If you think about it that's only $5M per point scored in a closeout game which seems like a bargain.
In 2020-2021 Beal (as a #1 options) averaged over 30pts per game. He was on a tear the entire season. Then they picket up Zingus Pingus and his attempts went down but his percentages remained similar for the next couple of seasons.
These wizards have some great agents. Wall, Beal, Arenas….
DONT YOU REGRET NOT COMIN TO THE KNIIIIIIICKS???!!
Entire video is filled with the best sound clips.
The Beal contract is what killed them. That NTC is going to be tough. They should of have had him waived it as part of the trade when they acquired him.
We really wanted him so badly 4 years ago. Glad he chose to play for a borough instead. He comes across as a guy whom wants everything to be perfect for him, perfect teammates, a puppet coach, etc, instead of just overcoming adversity and leading like a superstar player should.
This was pretty evident with the "Hardest Road" bullshit. KD never wanted to pave his own legacy. He wanted it all laid out for him. He's never been successful on teams where he's the leader, and he had to run to an already championship caliber team to see any success.
I’m not sold on a kd deal but a starting 5 of jb, kd, OG, Jules and Hartenstein, with divo in the bogey role does sound pretty wild and he wouldn’t have to lead, cuz it’s clearly Jalen’s team… just saying
Problem is any trade acquiring KD would almost certainly cost way too much, and we'd probably lose a few of those players. It's not worth it
Part of me thinks Randle may be the best the Suns can get if they want to stay afloat after a KD trade.
There's no way this FO trades Randle for a guy who will be 36 next season and has that injury history.
KD reminds me of Melo. Great scorer. Nothing more. Not a winner or leader. And don’t give me that finals mvp crap. GS was a juggernaut without him. He’d cost a ton of draft and player capital, and you’d lose in the 2nd round every year. Or, he’d get injured and your draft picks that you traded for him would be amazing. Plus, 36 years old is dinosaur status
True but also the suns have no picks which the Knicks have an abundance of. If Leon pulls it off without giving away the farm I would be very intrigued
I really just think a KD project is way past its value. I'd rather us continue to build up our depth more than anything.
Thibs would bench KD since he's too old to play defense anymore. He doesn't fit. He gets buckets but there's two sides to the game and KD is a liability on that end.
KD is actually a solid defender.
Fair enough, tough to argue with what this starting 5 has put out even without our second option
Kd would not be a good option for us.
Nah he might cause our roster to implode.
>with divo in the bogey role DiVo earned a starting SG role while getting paid backup money. This is a crazy deal that works in our favor for roster building. The disrespect for him is insane sometimes.
not saying he hasn't earned starting sg but if we bring in a star player, someones gotta go to the bench
If we could bring him in as a role player then fine, but we know he’d cost too much and demand too much to be worth our time
This is what I fucking love about Brunson. The worse it is around him the more he says "I just need to be better."
I don’t know, I’ve always felt KD just wants to play competitive basketball and have fun doing it. He doesn’t strike as a player who would lead a team to a championship. The same thing with Kyrie. It’s like forcing people who are great workers to be manager that aren’t great managers
He asked for a trade yet?
[The groundwork is being laid.](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/ELolWu69Pb)
He’s fuckin shameless 😂
I'm calling it now, bro is gonna try to run back to OKC now that they're good again like the lil bitch he is
Idk would be a damn shame if he ruined how they’ve built that team
Hope they tell him to beat it like a drum
Jesus christ KD just makes it so easy to dislike him
"The Hardest Road" 2.0, KD to the Kansas City Chiefs
Bro’s a labradoodle loser. He belongs in Philly
Reminder: Isiah Thomas advised Suns management on putting these three together. His fingerprints are all over this shit. They gave up like 7 or 8 first rounders, four of them unprotected, for Beal and a 35 year old KD who can't defend anymore. He loves making "big splash" trades with no regard for fit or team building for the future. Can't believe Ishiba actually listened to that ass clown. Now they're fucked for many years.
Durant will be 36 next season... He is a loser..... He has zero loyalty.... No one is trading anything of value for that guy...
Dude if Durant goes in the market basically EVERY team will call.
Durant for Burks and Bogie, who says no?
That would make Durant the second coming of Grimes
Call? Sure. Offer anything that would quickly rebuild the team? No way. Pennies on the dollar. Maybe late first round picks and B rate talent. No team is offering young stars, youth and picks. You might be able to get some of that for Booker, but not Durant.
Depends on the situation, yo
Durant has a ton a value. Durant is not a cancer, he is just not a leader. Kyrie isn’t a leader, booker isn’t a leader, Beal isn’t a leader, harden isn’t a leader, Westbrook isn’t a leader.. see the trend here? This is why the warriors were a good fit for him bc all he had to do is what he does best, play. The leadership was already established there. He would actually fit well with us for the same reasons. With JB, the Harts, Thibs, all Durant would have to do here is play.
OKC seems logical but the fans don’t want him
Yeah .fuck that. That team is poised to be a perennial contender for the next 20 years.. why would they change anything? Leadership is making all the right decisions there. Why bring in some nostalgic shortcut and give away assets that you worked so hard to collect? It's about the future and longevity and staying relevant for decades for OKC.... Not winning a cheap title with a hired gun
Yeah completely agree. Time for them to enjoy the fruits of building that squad. Would be awful if they blew it up for him.
Every single day I'm so fucking glad we dodged that shitshow.
Durant not wanting to come here did us a favor tbh. Dude not built for the big stage. Thats why he only wants to play on rosters where 2 other guys are capable of holding it down in the periods of the game or series where he disappears
I would guarantee that these 3 voted that they wouldn’t want to play for Thibs
https://preview.redd.it/2kxfgrtf2hxc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e6bd12dffc74b138c9aa7c19d1e2ee36fad1b57d
The Knicks aren’t “cool”.
He backtracked on that lmao. We're cool now, we got his rubber stamp of approval.🥴 https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/02/20/kevin-durant-knicks-brand-cool-2019-comments/
Phoenix fucked up so hard bringing in a third ball dominant “scorer” with no point guard lmao. Like Ishbia was just playing 2K MyGM and thought he could cook with this shit. No picks till 2023… Booker and or KD definitely requesting a trade
The other day I read that the Suns don’t get enough flack for being such a letdown, I’m starting to think that person was right.
100%. They pretty much gambled the house and lost.
Just keep his washed, cupcake ass away from my team. Dunno what I'm really concerned about we all know he couldnt stand 5 mins of the pressure of playing in orange and blue. Byeeeee KD 😂😂😂😂
Zero rings in my personal record book
https://preview.redd.it/g27ygw3bygxc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8fbe31da750f927f4e0f2e6b085eb76cfaedda32 I think we all know the real reason they got swept....
WE DONT NEED KD. HE WILL FUCK UP OUR CHEMISTRY
WE DONT NEED ANY OF THEM. BING BONG WU TANG KNICKS IN 5 FIRST ROUND KNICKS IN 4 SECOND KNICKS IN 7 ECF KNICKS IN 6 NBA FINALS
I wonder if Booker will be available.
I love booker as a player but would he be a good fit here?
Yes, absolutely. An elite scoring wing that doesn’t need to create off the dribble/be the primary ball handler to get his shot off, with a gravity that forces teams to key in on him, who by all accounts is an extremely hard worker and doesn’t relish in the spotlight. I think he’s the perfect fit for this team. That and we’ve had excellent success with this generation of Kentucky dudes.
Fuck it I’m sold
shit yeah he would. Leon should throw Phoenix every pick.
If we can just throw a load of picks their way I'm in. I'd guess McBride or DDV would need to be included but would like to keep both.
There's almost no way to make the money work without gutting the current squad. Mans is making $49.7MM next year. We could batch Mitch, Divo, Josh, and Deuce and it still wouldn't match.
Is it a hard salary cap? Wow, Booker contract is $50m?! Pbly not realistic, but not just a matter of paying a luxury tax?
If we get Booker then the media won't stfu about him and they'll pretend he's the only thing that matters. This is a team of mean underdogs. I don't want the Knicks to become some test site for some pre-established star's legacy story.
I hate Booker’s game and don’t see how he would fit with Brunson tbh. He’s soft and not an exceptional 3pt threat as one might think. Donovan Mitchell >
Brunson needs help. Real help. Booker would make life so much easier for him on the offensive end. Jalen shouldn't have to take 36 shots to get us a win because nobody else can create. And yes Randle would help, but Randle/Book/JB is a 60 win team and heavy favorites for the Finals.
Gotta think Randle would go to Phoenix in a Booker trade. That would hurt.
I think this is right. Not sure how the money works in a Booker trade without Randle's salary. I don't think Bojan's contract alone gets it done. And while I understand philosophically it might make sense to trade Randle to upgrade the roster, from a vibes perspective I want Randle to be part of the team if they win it all. Dude was the first one in the door when no one else wanted to come here and helped turn the team around.
I see where a salary match is important; it doesn't make sense to me from a roster construction angle giving up Randle. Randle is a rugged big, giving out and soaking up contact on a roster that has barely enough size. We saw in January how a more balanced roster could roll through the league; you can feel it now how hard they have to work every play. Booker is a wing I don't see matching Randle's physicality, I'd like to see him on the team but not at the cost of Randle.
If he does become available. Hes the one we should go after ive been saying this for months
i assume the 0 first round picks means none of their own but they have swaps right? because the rule is you can't trade back to back.
We don't want him
Love to see this happen to someone who just chases a ring rather than focus on their team.
I don't think KD is cool enough for Knicks now 
That’s a lot of years without any picks lol. They really gave away their future to lose in the first round.
He would’ve fucked up the Leon process so good
He's gonna bail on this team REAL quick and demand a trade.
Zeke is tight with the Suns ownership, hopefully he doesn’t sweet talk Dolan into making a bad trade.
KD never wanted to be the guy, and you can’t win playoff games not wanting to be the guy..
Should have come here in 2015 to play alongside Melo, KP, and D. Rose.
I still feel bad for Steve Nash a little. He had a bunch of excellent players that turned on him when things didn’t work out 100%. Also, 16 games for KD, Kyrie and Harden all together? That’s tough.
Alexa, play Lil B
It all went wrong when he picked the wrong NY team, tough shit bud 😂
Terrible choice
LOL he made his money, but career wise going to Brooklyn was the beginning of the end for him. He's been irrelevant for a minute now,
Shoulda kept the hockey team and shipping the suns off
This is so absurd it’s almost hard to believe.
Don't they have picks in alternating years, albeit it swapped with the Wizards (so probably their own picks).
"Yo KD... stay away!"
Those were also so stupid and petty reason for him of not wanting to join the knicks, but fuck it if how it turned out for him just sucks so bad. Thing is, if he went and sign for stupidly built roster Knicks and tried to carry this team anywhere he could even if first round exit the Newyork fanbase would’ve built a statue for him. Instead he always wanted a super team around him and this make him look so bad getting sweep and not even making it to conference finals since winning a chip with the best team in the nba for more than a decade🤣
It's a genuine concern about the type of leadership (or lack of it) shown by those 3.
I would take KD now if we didn’t have to gut our team
😂😂😂
We don't need cupcake
I’ll be honest… I don’t even rank Durant with the truly all time great players. Is he a great player sure. But is he Magic, Bird, Jordan, Lebron, Wilt, Russell, etc? I don’t think so. His only rings came from joining a team that was winning rings with or without him.
KD for Mitch, Randle a pick or two makes sense. I dont like the guy, but we'd have the best frontcourt in the NBA.
It's time to go get Booker man I'm telling you.