Can Phil Jackson reel in the 6″10 scoring machine?
Fresh off his team’s devastating loss to the Golden State Warriors last night [Monday, May 30], there has been a lot of talk on where KD may land next year. After July 1, Durant will be an unrestricted free agent and according to insiders, the New York Knicks are planning to pursue the 2014 NBA MVP.
As crazy and outrageous as it may sound, there are some key factors that may help the Knicks land the seven-time NBA All Star. For starters, he once admitted how much of a fan he is to Knicks rookie and rising star Krystaps Porzingis, as he compared his game to a “unicorn.” In addition, he’s developing a tight friendship with Carmelo Anthony. KD’s management representative Rich Kleiman of Roc Nation Sports has an office based in New York City, where both parties are planning to meet up to discuss preliminary contractual agreement this summer. But there are some red flags concerning Durant potentially wearing the legendary white, orange and blue when the season begins in October 2016.
One major factor is the firing of Derek Fisher. Fisher and Durant were close teammates during Fisher’s one year tenure at Oklahoma City. Another factor is NBA insiders such as ESPN’s Marc Stein strongly believing that Durant has a better chance of getting back to the NBA Finals with teams who have the salary cap to pursue him, such as the Warriors, Spurs and Thunder. Lastly, there have been strong indicators the Thunder are planning to offer Durant a two-year deal which could see Kevin receive major money while playing alongside teammate Russell Westbrook (once the new television deal is done the salary cap is expected to rise up to $108 million dollars).
Whether he stays at OKC or heads to New York, San Antonio, Philadelphia, Golden State or Washington, the basketball world is very intrigued to figure out where “Durantula” will land. They don’t call him “Easy Money” for nothing. He’s worth all the cash a championship franchise has to buy.