Kawhi Leonard went out of his way to say he didn’t even consider the Knicks in free agency last summer.
New York was confident entering the offseason about getting a meeting with Leonard. But as it became apparent Leonard would sign elsewhere (ultimately, Clippers), the Knicks canceled their meeting with Leonard and pivoted into signing a bunch of marginal players.
Marc Berman of the New York Post:Knicks brass, however, did not consider Leonard’s comment a blow. In fact, it only confirmed the decision to pass on a meeting with the 2019 Finals MVP that would have taken place four days into free agency.
The Post reported then that the Knicks considered themselves extreme long shots for Leonard. When they found out a meeting couldn’t take place until after he met with the Lakers, Clippers and Raptors, they decided to move on and sign players to fill their $70 million worth of cap space.
After The Post’s report, the Knicks were ripped on social media for not waiting it out for Leonard.
The problem wasn’t the Knicks not waiting it out for Leonard. The problem was the Knicks pumping up a worthless meeting in the first place. The Knicks finally realizing what everyone else did – that the meeting didn’t matter – only provided more opportunity to laugh at their pathetic attempts to seem robust.
Just like this leak.
Just like the leak about not offering the max to Kevin Durant.
From ownership down, the Knicks are a laughingstock. Their clumsy attempts paint a different narrative only make them look worse.
