Friday night in Madison Square Garden, the Golden State Warriors will thrash take on the New York Knicks.
This is Kevin Durant’s one-and-only trip to the island of Manhattan this season, but he’s been linked there as a possible free agent next summer, meaning Knicks fans are going all out to recruit him. Of course, that means a billboard.
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I get why it’s up but... it’s Oct. 25. We are 249 days from the start of free agency. This is like seeing Christmas decorations up in a store in August. It just feels too early.
Nobody knows for sure what Durant will decide next summer (including Durant himself at this point), but there is a sense among executives around the league that KD is going to leave Golden State to go somewhere and have “his own team.” There are already teams lining up to go after what is one of the three best players in the world and the two-time Finals MVP and the Knicks are high on that list.
If Durant is leaving, there’s some logic to heading to the Knicks. First, it would be his team, but there is some other talent there in Kristaps Porzingis (once he gets healthy) and potential quality role players such as Tim Hardaway Jr. and Kevin Knox. There is a well-respected coach there in David Fizdale now, who is trying to build a new, stop-skipping-steps culture for the Knicks. Durant would get out of the deep West (although Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Milwaukee are all serious threats). And, if you win in New York, it would be like winning nowhere else.
However, there are concerns (*cough* James Dolan) and Durant will have his choice of 28 teams that would love to recruit him (we can rule out Oklahoma City). Durant will have options, ones that could be more appealing than the Knicks. That might even include staying in the Bay Area.
But Knicks fans are already doing their part.