Knicks just one of the teams with an eye on Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant #35 of the Oklahoma City Thunder dunks the ball in the second half against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016 in New York City. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Kevin Durant is close with Carmelo Anthony, Derek Fisher and a couple of Knicks assistants who worked for Oklahoma City. He’s impressed with rookie sensation Kristaps Porzingis and the Knicks’ roster. He loves New York and playing at the Garden.
All of that means Durant will be signing with the Knicks this summer when he becomes a free agent. Or does it?
The Knicks appear to be in the running, but you can make a case for several teams.
The Thunder can pay Durant the most money. He’s a king in Oklahoma City, he’s playing with Russell Westbrook and the Thunder can contend every year.
The Wizards are his hometown team, and he can play with John Wall and Bradley Beal and become an East power.
The Heat and Pat Riley are always in play. It’s Miami, and Durant could team with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and try to make a championship run.
A plausible scenario: Durant, who torched the Knicks for 44 points in Wednesday night’s overtime win, could sign a two-year deal with the Thunder with an opt-out after Year 1, as LeBron James did with Cleveland. Then Durant and Westbrook could be free agents together in 2017 — and both could bolt for the Lakers.
(Westbrook is from Southern California and went to UCLA. Durant has a place in Los Angeles. See, you can make any scenario work.)
Or perhaps in 2017, Durant could take a harder look at the Knicks if they’re more established and Porzingis continues to develop into a star.
There’s no doubt the Knicks are more enticing with Porzingis, whom Durant complimented by calling him “a unicorn.” Most free agents will give them a longer look because they’re exciting, are playing better and have a legit franchise cornerstone in the 7-3 20-year-old from Latvia.
A front line of Anthony, Durant and Porzingis would be tough to stop and make the Knicks an elite team. But they would need to be creative with the cap and roster — trade, renounce and/or amnesty players — to have the money to sign Durant. Besides, their first priority should be a point guard. As good as that front line could be, someone needs to get them the basketball.
Derek Fisher probably would say the Knicks don’t need a point guard to run the triangle offense because the parts are interchangeable. But the Knicks need a point guard or combo guard who not only can create but can prevent opposing guards from getting in the lane and wreaking havoc, which has been a problem for several years.
There are reports that the Knicks have spoken to the Hawks about Jeff Teague. They could inquire about Detroit’s Brandon Jennings before next month’s trade deadline. But if they strike out, Phil Jackson should meet with Grizzlies guard Mike Conley Jr. at 12:01 a.m. July 1.
Everything has to play itself out. One of the most apropos things Durant said while he was praising everything about the Knicks and the city was: “They link everybody with New York . . . they link everybody. It’s not just me.”
James was linked to New York in 2010. It didn’t work out. Greg Monroe, LaMarcus Aldridge and Marc Gasol were linked to the Knicks last summer. None of them came. Let it play out.
The Knicks’ first priority should be the point guard position, and then an athletic wing who can play and defend multiple positions.
Those are areas in which the Knicks need big upgrades. But getting Durant would be a major upgrade, too, and would make the Knicks an immediate contender — if it actually happened.
Warriors, best ever?
The defending NBA champion Warriors, who will make their only Garden visit of the season Sunday night and are led by Phil Jackson’s first choice to coach the Knicks, Steve Kerr, are 43-4. The 1995-96 Bulls, who finished an NBA-best 72-10, were 41-5 after 46 games.
Entering Saturday, Golden State had won its last five games by an average of 25.4 points against teams that were a combined 75 games over .500 when they met.
Stephen Curry, maybe the most unbelievable shot-maker in NBA history, is on pace to shatter his own record for most three-pointers in a season (286). The reigning MVP and current scoring leader already has made 218 three-pointers. Even more staggering, he entered Saturday shooting 45.5 percent from three-point range and 51.1 percent overall.
Curry lit up the Garden for 54 points two years ago, making 11 of 13 three-pointers. He’s shooting and playing better than he ever has. The Warriors are, too, so it could be another electric night.
More Cavs fallout
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich used Monday night’s 30-point loss to the Warriors as an opportunity to mock the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers for firing Blatt.
Popovich opened his postgame news conference by saying, “I’m just glad my general manager wasn’t in the locker room, because it might have gotten me fired.”
Cavaliers GM David Griffin fired Blatt four days after a 34-point loss to the Warriors. He said he didn’t have to consult with players because he’s always in the locker room and observed enough to make his decision.
Blatt was replaced by associate head coach Tyronn Lue, who wasted no time in ingratiating himself with James — as if he hadn’t already.
Lue essentially said Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love are young and concerned with “their brand” and that they should follow Dwyane Wade’s lead in Miami and defer to James.
“You gotta think about that,” Lue said. “That’s real sacrifice for a guy who’s won a championship, it was Wade County, and then have to turn the keys over to LeBron James when it was always your team.”
The message probably was received loud and clear. Even so, the Cavs have a long way to go to beat the Warriors and Spurs.
Not-so-good to be the King
LeBron James and his image are taking a major hit since the Cavaliers fired David Blatt. His image was something James worked so hard to repair after his ill-fated “The Decision” when he left Cleveland for Miami in 2010. And now he’s being labeled “a coach-killer.”
Heat limited partner Raanan Katz told an Israeli radio station this past week that James tried to get coach Erik Spoelstra fired when he played for the Heat. Katz later told the Sun-Sentinel that he doesn’t know if that happened.
James’ response on and off the court will be interesting to watch.
“I think it does [stink] that people want to throw my name in dirt for no particular reason because of speculation or whatever the case may be,” James said. “But you can’t worry about it too much.
“I got 14 guys here. I got a fan base here and a fan base all over the world that loves what I do and they respect what I do, and I can’t worry about a select group of people that want to use their negative energy to take away my positive energy. I can’t allow that to happen.”
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
