Any New York Knicks fans holding out hope that Kevin Durant will consider signing with the team in free agency this summer should, um, you know, stop.
It’s not going to happen. Durant, in fact, apparently won’t even consider it, according to the New York Daily News’ Stefan Bondy:
Kevin Durant is the top free agent, but is not considering the Knicks, according to sources. “It shouldn’t be a balance (between finding players to fit a system and building a system around the players). It’s whatever decision you want to make,” Rambis said. “The decision with management is to get players who fit into the system. Neither way is wrong. It’s about your mindset and what you want to do. And I think the whole process has been to get players who we feel will fit into the system.”
There is something so Knicks about the actual Knicks not pursuing the best free agent since LeBron James in 2010 just because he’s not a ready-made fit for the outmoded triangle offense.
To be clear, this is more about Durant not wanting to play for the Knicks. That should be obvious. If he leaves the Oklahoma City Thunder, it will be for a team that can contend for a championship with him—that can make runs at the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs. The Knicks are just not that team, even with Kevin Durant. They have yet to figure out their own identity outside of a failing triangle.
But yeah, on top of that, the Knicks might not even call Durant. Not because they believe the situation is hopeless, but because he doesn’t fit the bill for what they’re after—which apparently isn’t all-time talent.
