Knicks Nearly Landed Kyrie Irving

The New York Knicks nearly had a swap planned between two of the marquee players in the 2024 NBA Finals.

May 28, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) reacts during the second half against the Minnesota Timberwolves during game four of the western conference finals for the 2024 NBA playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports | Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Knicks are sitting on the couch as the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks prepare to face off against one another in the NBA Finals.

The matchup could pit former Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis against Kyrie Irving, who New York nearly acquired for the Latvian big man back in 2019.

"The Celtics once dreamed of pairing Irving with Anthony Davis," NBA insider Jake Fischer wrote. "But come late January, when New York’s front office began to quietly pursue deals to move on from Porziņģis, the Celtics and Knicks even held tangible dialogue about swapping Irving for the 7-2 sharpshooter, league sources told Yahoo Sports, before the Mavericks swooped in and sent a package headlined by two first-round picks to New York."

Porzingis was eventually dealt to the Mavericks, where he had an unsuccessful partnership with Luka Doncic. After 2.5 years with the Mavs, the team traded him to the Washington Wizards, who then dealt Porzingis to the Celtics this past offseason.

If the Knicks acquired Irving from the Celtics, the trajectory of the league would look very different. Irving might have had a similar experience to the one he had with the Brooklyn Nets, and that could have set the Knicks back even further.

Even though Irving is in his fourth NBA Finals and the Knicks have still yet to reach the Eastern Conference Finals since 2000, New York is probably happy that it ended up not making this deal, because Jalen Brunson likely wouldn't have signed with the team in 2022.

Irving is where he's supposed to be, Porzingis is where he's supposed to be, and everyone feels content with their current setup.

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