For much of last season, the story on Kevin Durant _ relayed by various league sources _ was he wanted to join the Knicks for legacy purposes, to rewrite his story after taking the path of least resistance to two titles. The Knicks, in turn, were confident it was going to happen. Hence James Dolan declaring on the radio in March that "we're going to have a very successful offseason when it comes to free agents."
Now what? The Achilles injury adds another layer to the cake, but, theoretically, the draw of the Knicks shouldn't change. They are the legacy play as the marquee franchise desperate for any semblance of competitive basketball. As safe bets go, however, they are at the bottom. More careers have been ruined at the Garden than enhanced.
Regardless, the Knicks are definitely in the mix with the Warriors, Nets and perhaps Clippers. And let's assume he signs up for the Garden rodeo once free agency starts Sunday. It would be nice if the Knicks had Kristaps Porzingis and RJ Barrett as the nucleus to support Durant once he returns in 2020-21, but one of those pieces was traded for cap space.
So what can they secure with that cap space along with Durant? If Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Kawhi Leonard, Tobias Harris, Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson and Khris Middleton sign elsewhere, as expected, the Knicks will have over $30 million in cap space to sign free agents unworthy of max salaries. We take a look some options below, while taking into account the Knicks' stated preference of securing short-term deals for free agents outside of the top tier. Many Tier B and C free agents won't take short-term deals:
