Getty Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets dribbles against Julius Randle of the New York Knicks during the first half at Barclays Center.
The New York Knicks are currently engaged in trade talks that would land them Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz, but a new report reveals they also did their due diligence on another star.
After Kevin Durant requested a trade on June 30, the NBA world was shook up and suddenly the offseason crawled to a halt as teams around the league waited to see how everything would play out.
Eventually, Durant rescinded the request and decided to return to the Brooklyn Nets. Speaking on the “STUpodity” podcast, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reveals the Knicks actually made an offer to land the star forward, but obviously nothing came into fruition.
Durant a Knick?
When Kyrie Irving and Durant were free agents together, it was heavily rumored the two of them would land in New York, and while that was indeed the case, they went to the Nets instead of the Knicks.
Since then, both sides haven’t seen much success as a franchise, but the Nets have made the news far more often, but not always for good reasons. Charania reveals the Knicks tried again to land the superstar forward, but talks quickly broke down.
“The Knicks did make calls on Kevin Durant from what I’m told,” Charania said, as transcribed by Sports Illustrated. “But I think both sides were cognizant they didn’t really have enough.”
It’s now know the Nets had an extremely high asking price, and with the Knicks sporting a whole stable of young talent and draft picks, it seems like Brooklyn never really had any intention of trading Durant.
That makes sense considering he’s under contract for four more years and having him on your team is definitely much better than not having him. In the end, Brooklyn was able to convince Durant to return to team up with Irving and Ben Simmons as the trio will look to bring an NBA championship to town.
As for the Knicks, they appear intent on landing Mitchell from the Jazz.
Mitchell Talks Still Ongoing
As the season looms closer, it seems like the Knicks aren’t getting any closer to landing Mitchell, but that remains the goal for them.
On August 22, it was revealed the Knicks offered both Evan Fournier and Obi Toppin to the Jazz in exchange for Mitchell, but that offer was not accepted according to The Athletic’s Tony Jones and Shams Charania.
“New York made a recent offer of Evan Fournier, Obi Toppin, additional salary and two unprotected first-round draft picks (five total), league sources tell me and The Athletic’s Tony Jones,” Charania wrote.
The Knicks have plenty of assets to offer in a trade, but it seems like they are trying to figure out how to pry Mitchell away from the Jazz without giving up the farm. Acquiring him would surely make New York into a playoff team, but even with him it’s hard to envision them being championship contenders, and that could be what’s holding them back.
Getting Mitchell would be a good step to building a contender as it’d give the team a true star to build around and somebody that could attract talent, but it seems like that hurdle isn’t ready to be crossed yet.
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