KD and the NYK? Knicks 'made calls' on Kevin Durant
At this point, everyone remotely associated with New York Knicks basketball knows that the team is inching closer toward a fateful 2022-23 season.
But new reports center not upon Donovan Mitchell, but rather his fellow NBA All-Star Kevin Durant.
Shams Charania, appearing on the STUpodity podcast, mentioned over the weekend that the Knicks called their crosstown rivals about the 2014 MVP when he held an active trade request (fulfilling requests AllKnicks made earlier this month). Durant has since rescinded the request, committing to the Nets for the upcoming 2022-23 season last week.
Charania confirmed that a crosstown journey from Brooklyn to Manhattan was indeed discussed, but both sides more or less agreed that they wouldn't be able to come to an agreement early in the process.
"The Knicks did make calls on Kevin Durant from what I’m told," Charania said. "But I think both sides were cognizant they didn’t really have enough."
New York's reluctance makes sense considering the way they've conducted themselves during the ongoing Mitchell negotiations: the Knicks are likely the suitor best equipped to barter thanks to their overflowing draft pick cabinet but the current hold-up with the Utah Jazz is their reluctance to part with the young, affordable, veteran talent that management in Salt Lake City covets.
While Durant has kept his individually dominant pace alive on the floor (last season's 29.9-point average being his best since his 2013-14 MVP campaign in Oklahoma City), the Nets have struggled to fulfill their championship potential since he first took to the Brooklyn hardwood in 2020. After dealing away James Harden prior to the postseason and continuing to try and balance the Durant/Kyrie Irving-led remaining core, Brooklyn was seeded seventh in the Eastern Conference playoff bracket, where they were swept by the Boston Celtics in four games.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
