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Will 2019 free agency season eventually be remembered as the year the New York Knicks were reluctant to pay Kevin Durant?
ESPN reported that the Knicks would not offer Durant – a 10-time All-Star and four-time scoring champion who also won Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards – the massive contract he agreed to with the Brooklyn Nets over worries about the torn Achilles he suffered in the NBA Finals.
After news emerged of Durant joining Brooklyn, the Knicks pivoted and committed $135m to free agents Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, Taj Gibson and Reggie Bullock, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Yahoo’s Shams Charania.
The 6ft 9in Randle agreed to a three-year, $63m contract, the 6ft 11in Portis agreed to a two-year, $31m deal, the 6ft 7in Gibson agreed to a two-year, $20m deal and the 6ft 7in Bullock will get a two-year, $21m deal.
With Knicks fans vocal in the disappointment at not landing Durant, team president Steve Mills issued a statement.
“While we understand that some Knicks fans could be disappointed with tonight’s news, we continue to be upbeat and confident in our plans to rebuild the Knicks and compete for championships in the future, through both the Draft and targeted free agents,” it read.
Durant, who announced his plans to join the Nets on Sunday night, is expected to miss the 2019-20 season as he recovers and goes through rehabilitation. He turns 31 in September.
The Knicks had cleared salary cap space for the potential signing of Durant, but their interest apparently diminished once he was injured. ESPN, citing league sources, said the Knicks and Durant never discussed financial terms, but it was believed Durant wouldn’t have considered anything below a max deal.
ESPN later reported Durant actually will take a slight discount – along with Kyrie Irving – to make room for DeAndre Jordan’s four-year, $40m deal in Brooklyn.
The Knicks instead pursued Randle, who spent the 2018-19 season with the New Orleans Pelicans. He declined his $9m player option to become a free agent.
The Los Angeles Lakers selected Randle with the No 7 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. He spent four seasons with the Lakers before signing a free agent deal with New Orleans, where he enjoyed a breakout season.
The 24-year-old averaged a career-high 21.4 points per game with 8.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists. In 311 career games (231 starts), he’s averaged 15.4 points.
Gibson, 34, averaged 10.8 points and 6.5 rebounds in 70 games last season.
Portis, 24, averaged 14.2 points and 8.1 rebounds in 50 games (28 starts) between the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards last season after being dealt to Washington in February. He was a first-round pick (No 22 overall) by the Bulls in 2015.
Bullock, 28, finished last year with the Los Angeles Lakers after arriving via a trade-deadline deal from Detroit. He averaged 11.3 points and 2.7 rebounds in 63 games (60 starts) over the regular season between the two teams.
