The New York Knicks apparently meant it when they opted out of the Kevin Durant trade sweepstakes. He is on way to the Houston Rockets, the Phoenix Suns are headed absolutely nowhere, and the Knicks, for their part, find themselves in unfamiliar territory: prioritizing continuity and moves on the margins rather than headline-dominating changes.
It is not particularly shocking that Durant didn’t end up in New York. As ESPN’s Shams Charania noted when he first broke the news, the Rockets, Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs were the primary finalists for the two-time Finals MVP’s services.
And yet, the extent to which the Knicks were not involved is at least somewhat surprising. They actually were on KD’s list of preferred landing spots, only to reportedly remove themselves from it.
This decision was initially painted as one made for New York, not necessarily by it. The cleanest path to a Durant trade always consisted of moving Karl-Anthony Towns, who despite being incredibly important to the Knicks, wasn’t coveted by the Suns, and whose market value is murky at best when he’s owed $171.2 million over the next three years.
Still, the package Phoenix ultimately accepted for Durant speaks volumes about not just its own future, but New York’s offseason intentions.
The Knicks could have beat the Rockets’ package for Kevin Durant
The Rockets are sending Dillon Brooks, Jalen Green, and the No. 10 pick to the Suns in exchange for KD. That is an underwhelming return at its most charitable—one even the asset-strapped Knicks could have beaten.
Towns’ contract may not be the most desirable, but he’s far from net-negative value. The same cannot be said for Jalen Green, whose three-year, $105.3 million extension kicks in next season. It feels like the Knicks could have rerouted KAT to a third team and gotten Phoenix a more palatable overall package.
Failing that, New York certainly had superior alternatives. If the Knicks were really desperate, they could have cobbled together a proposal built around two or more of Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart, and easily outstripped the quality of Houston’s package.
To be clear: This would have been an incredibly shortsighted play by New York. There is some merit to moving KAT for KD. There is zero logic behind shortening an already-shallow rotation for a soon-to-be 37-year-old by jettisoning two of your top-six players.
New York clearly believes it’s on the precipice of championship contention
Watching the KD trade sweepstakes from the sidelines proves once and for all what Tom Thibodeau’s dismissal already implied: The Knicks believe they are a title contender as currently constructed, in need of only marginal depth, and a new approach at the head-coaching position.
This level of conviction is debatable. Though New York finished just two wins shy of the NBA Finals, it has issues that won’t be remedied simply by changing the head coach. Someone else can run a more inventive offense that doesn’t see Towns and Jalen Brunson leading completely separate existences by season’s end. But a new voice will not necessarily improve the defensive performance of lineups that contain both stars.
Switching up the head coach also won’t help the Knicks’ depth. Thibs clearly relied too much on the top of the roster, but it’s hard to crucify him when more evenly distributing minutes would have meant leaning heavily on some combination of Cameron Payne, Landry Shamet, Delon Wright, and Precious Achiuwa.
New York needs to acquire more depth before actually tapping into it. Whether that’s possible using only the mini mid-level exception of $5.7 million and minimum contracts will be a matter of course. So, too, is the notion that this team doesn’t need a shakeup near the top of the rotation.
The Knicks, for their part, clearly believe they have enough in place, or the ability to acquire what they don’t on a smaller scale. Their position throughout the Kevin Durant trade saga has made that much clear.