NBA fans have been speculating over how the 2019 offseason will shake out for more than a year, and with a star-studded class of players set to enter free agency this summer, we could see some major shifts in the NBA’s balance of power.
The New York Knicks have two max slots to lure superstar players, and while they didn’t score the No. 1 pick in the draft, it’s been widely rumored that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving could team up in Madison Square Garden. Kawhi Leonard is three wins away from another NBA title, but it remains to be seen whether he will commit long-term in Toronto or head home to Los Angeles. More recently, it has been reported that Irving could opt to join the Brooklyn Nets, which has some analysts speculating that Durant may choose to remain in the Bay Area.
According to Charles Barkley, all of this speculation is “crap,” because the players involved likely haven’t made up their minds. During an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, Barkley made the solid point that in the superteam era, star players have to coordinate their moves to be successful. Because of that reality, the first major offseason signing will trigger a domino effect, and a player like Kemba Walker or Khris Middleton may end up in a different location as old superteams are dismantled and new superteams are formed.
“If you watch TV… all these fake guys are saying the exact same thing: ‘my source,’ or ‘what I’m hearing.’
I think these guys are all full of crap. I don’t think these guys know anything, but like I said… I don’t think these players know where they’re going. You know how I know that? This is how full of crap all these reporters are. Because all these [players] are caught between a rock and a hard place. They can’t go anywhere by themselves. That’s the biggest problem all these guys got. No matter how great – whether you’re talking about Kawhi, KD, Kyrie, Jimmy Butler – none of these guys can make a move until something happens.
… If you go to a team by yourself, the team is not going to be any good. So that’s what’s going to be very interesting this summer. Who makes the first move. Who’s talking behind the scenes? Because you can’t go anywhere by yourself, or you’re going to be making a lot of money on a bad team.”
