Knicks' view of free-agent stars becoming cloudy

This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be.

Sure, the Knicks front office of general manager Scott Perry and team president Steve Mills tried diligently to tone down the expectations that the start of free agency Sunday evening would bring, expectations that had been turned up to 11 by the franchise’s principal owner, James Dolan, who went on the “The Michael Kay Show” on ESPN New York radio months ago and assured anyone listening that stars are coming.

“New York is the mecca of basketball,” Dolan said. “We hear from people all the time, from players, representatives. It’s about who wants to come. We can’t respond because of the NBA rules, but that doesn’t stop them from telling us, and they do. I can tell you from what we’ve heard, I think we’re going to have a very successful offseason when it comes to free agents.”

When he was asked if that means that the top available talent will come, he didn’t hesitate.

“Yes, I do think that,” he said. “I think we offer a pretty good situation for them. One is a lot of them love New York. A bunch of them live in New York in the offseason. They know the team. They know [David Fizdale] really well. They know Steve and they know Scott. I think they’re fairly confident about the organization.

“Players who are free agents want to go to a winner and they want to get paid. We’re definitely going to pay them. And we think with them combined with the kids that we have that we can build a winning team.”

It was going to be Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving and if it wasn’t them then surely Kawhi Leonard or Kemba Walker would take their money. They’d been down this road before, coming up empty in the chase of LeBron James in 2010, but Dolan sounded so sure this time. 

And when the 6 p.m. start to free agency begins the Knicks find themselves hoping for a meeting with the stars. The plans are suddenly sidetracked, first by Durant’s ruptured Achilles that has thrown his status into limbo and then the reported defection of Irving — to New York, but believed to be headed to Brooklyn and the Nets.

Even in chaos the Lakers remade their roster, adding Anthony Davis in a trade — the sort of trade that the Knicks anticipated with financial flexibility — and now opening up enough space to recruit one of the stars.

The Knicks believe they are still in the mix. They remain hopeful that they can coax Durant into taking a four-year max contract from them — leaving $57 million and a fifth year on the table from the Warriors despite needing to sit out the upcoming season to rehabilitate his injury. They are expected to meet with Leonard in Los Angeles, but are long shots for his services.

So what is reality for the Knicks? 

The last real star they had, Kristaps Porzingis, was traded on Jan. 30, unhappy with the organization. He might have been the sort of player to lure more stars, but instead, he is gone to Dallas and the Knicks have the cap space to show for it. 

The Knicks have plotted out a path to chase the top free agents with max contract offers, but after Durant, Leonard and Irving they insist they will not do the same for second-tier players. While second-tier would still be first tier for the Knicks and the remnants of the roster from last season’s 17-65 season, the Knicks aren’t wrong to avoid tying themselves long term to players on huge deals that are not the sort that can lead a team into contention.

The second tier — after Klay Thompson, who is a max player who the Knicks have no shot at, figures to be Kemba Walker, Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris, Al Horford, D’Angelo Russell and Khris Middleton. The Knicks have no shot at luring them if they aren’t going to pay the full price. 

The hope is that they convince a player the likes of Julius Randle to take a one or two-year deal, allowing them to cash in with a larger payday but for a short term, retaining the flexibility for future free agent chases or trades. 

In the meantime, the Knicks will hope to continue to build a core around their young players like rookie RJ Barrett, Kevin Knox and Mitchell Robinson. But the risk is just how the Knicks execute that player development. Porzingis is 23 years old and pushed his way out of the culture. Frank Ntilikina, the lottery pick from two years ago, is 20 years old and has been turned into an afterthought. 

With that in mind, if the Knicks are left to fill the payroll with one-year pieces like last year, finding players who create an environment that is conducive to making those young players better — and in an ideal world, putting them in a winning culture. 

Thomas waived — for now

The Knicks requested waivers Saturday on Lance Thomas, the longest-tenured player on the roster, but it might not mean goodbye. 

Thomas was due to earn $7.6 million next season if he wasn’t waived ahead of the start of free agency and instead picks up a guaranteed $1 million as the final payment on his four-year contract. The team remains interested in bringing back Thomas, who was considered an unofficial captain on the young team last season, on a less pricey contract after the chase for star power with the $70 million of cap space is used.

Like most of the roster, the 30-year-old Thomas struggled last season. After shooting at least 40 percent from beyond the arc each of the three previous seasons he dipped to 27.8 percent last season and played his fewest minutes per game since joining the Knicks. 

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.