Knicks reportedly ‘stunned and depressed’ by Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving choosing Nets

The New York Knicks will be heading into the next summer looking for superstars. This is much in the vein of the summer of 2019, when New York struck out on several big-name free agents after clearly angling for Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving by trading Kristaps Porzingis in January.

Of course, both Durant and Irving chose the Brooklyn Nets, and so the Knicks will have to watch their crosstown rivals climb up the ranks in the Eastern Conference.

Meanwhile, a source inside that Knicks says the organization was stunned when Durant and Irving chose Brooklyn over Manhattan.

Via Frank Isola:

While the Knicks have spun this notion that they didn’t want meetings with either player — as well as Kawhi Leonard — a team source insists that management was “stunned and depressed” when they learned that Irving and Durant picked the other team in town.

This is sort of surprising… or perhaps it isn’t? New York hasn’t been a well-run organization for some time, and why any superstar would choose the Knicks at this point simply because of location is lacking in self-awareness. “Big names go to big markets” is a thinking that is at least a decade old. Stars still gravitate to big markets, but usually only to teams that have adequate management. Just ask the Los Angeles Lakers how having one and not the other is working out for them.

Who knows if New York will ever get the big-name stars they desire through the open market. Meanwhile, they will just have to make do with potential Rookie of the Year candidate RJ Barrett.