Welcome to MSG Kevin Durant

Even a hobbled KD is a better signing than most. KD might be rusty but he still
Should be an asset come 2020-2021 season. He would be in age 32 season... This isn?t Amare knee situation... he should still driver 3 very good seasons.

Plus, it allows NYK to continue this homegrown movement... maybe accumulate another lottery pick, which could be used as ammo in a trade for something.

Who know. But, Knicks smart to bring him in to groom Knox and RJ.

Kevin Durant's Achilles injury has potentially thrown a huge wrench into his free agency and the Knicks' plans, but that hasn't strongly impacted the odds of him ending up with the Knicks -- at least not yet.

According to Odds Shark, the Knicks still have the best odds.

The list:

Knicks -175
Warriors +210
Clippers +500
Nets +700
Lakers +750
Mavericks +2500

Remember, Knicks beat odds and secured a top 3 pick... maybe this is all still part of the design, somehow, to finally help this org emerge from 2 decades of crap.

Who know. We?ll see.

mafra said:

Even a hobbled KD is a better signing than most. KD might be rusty but he still
Should be an asset come 2020-2021 season. He would be in age 32 season... This isn?t Amare knee situation... he should still driver 3 very good seasons.

Plus, it allows NYK to continue this homegrown movement... maybe accumulate another lottery pick, which could be used as ammo in a trade for something.

Who know. But, Knicks smart to bring him in to groom Knox and RJ.

Click to expand...

You guys have to remember I?m a Chiefs fan too and went thru this with Derrick Johnson and Eric Barry. The latter tore his Achilles in the home opener TWO years ago so missed that entire season, only to miss all of last year as well because he developed some haglung heel condition. EB didn?t make it back until the AFC championship game and my last memory of EB in a Chiefs uniform is now retired Gronk burning EB in OT costing us the game and the Super Bowl. Different sport, but EB was an all-pro who beat cancer only to succumb to the Achilles. And basketball players play 82 games not 16. No thanks

KD is 7 foot with huge wingspan and is deadly from the outside. Even if he can?t recoup his former athleticism... his game will still be upper echelon. He can score and even if he?s now just Dirk... well, that?s more than good enough.

To me, I?m just stoked we get RJ and will have Barrett, Knox, Mitch, Trier, DSJ, Knitty and the rest. I?m cool developing the kids and seeing what happens.

I have a feeling Knox-RJ might be a deadly offensive combo on the wings.

They have work to do... but the talent is in there.

What better way to help them progress than to sprinkle in KD.

Plus, from the moment we dealt KP, it only made sense if that meant KD.

mafra said:

KD is 7 foot with huge wingspan and is deadly from the outside. Even if he can?t recoup his former athleticism... his game will still be upper echelon. He can score and even if he?s now just Dirk... well, that?s more than good enough.

To me, I?m just stoked we get RJ and will have Barrett, Knox, Mitch, Trier, DSJ, Knitty and the rest. I?m cool developing the kids and seeing what happens.

I have a feeling Knox-RJ might be a deadly offensive combo on the wings.

They have work to do... but the talent is in there.

What better way to help them progress than to sprinkle in KD.

Plus, from the moment we dealt KP, it only made sense if that meant KD.

Click to expand...

We have the most cap space in the league and I guess the question is, could we do anything better with the portion of it that would go to signing KD? Could we get Kawhi plus Kyrie or Kemba or Butler or Harris or Klay or Cousins? My guess is almost certainly no.

My guess is the only thing that would bring another star here is having Durant already on board.

So, go ahead and sign Durant, but don?t blow the rest of our cap space this offseason unless by some miracle Kawhi wants to come here even with an injured Durant (not going to happen).

Like you said, play out the season and develop our young guys and get another lottery piece in 2020.

Under absolutely no circumstance trade all those assets to get AD now. Instead, wait and see if you can?t get AD in free agency in 2020 with the idea that he would be coming to play with a healthy Durant and hopefully emerging stars RJ and MRob.

It?s not that crazy a plan. A lot better than repeating the Melo mistake.

As an aside, Broadway has been surprisingly quiet the last couple days. Wonder where?s he at in the post Achilles tear world.

I agree. Learn from Melo, while encouraging AD. Have guts and play chicken...

MRob is AD and all that on defense. We hope Knox and RJ deliver AD production on offense...

Sign KD. Hope NO trades AD to a mystery team, willing to roll dice after PG13 and KL deals... sign AD next summer and have everything.

If KL and Kemba want to come... be flexible. Otherwise, stay the course...

ESPN Insider on the KD injury. No mention of the Knicks in the article but interesting takes on when he might return based on other NBA players who have had Achilles injuries and how much might the injury affect his play. Knicks can expect to get a “worse” KD when he comes back both from his injury and his age though still a superior player. Knicks have always been snake bitten by these big signings but in KD’s case I think they throw caution to the wind and sign him if they have the chance. I wouldn’t rule out that he stays with the Warriors either.



What are the implications of Kevin Durant's Achilles injury for the Golden State Warriors and his future?
Durant collapsed shortly into the second quarter of Game 5 of the NBA Finals, and Warriors officials believe Tuesday's MRI will confirm an Achilles tear, according to a report by ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski.
Durant likely will be out the remainder of the series and well beyond. Let's try to answer some of the key questions created by his injury.

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[h=2]What does Durant's absence mean for the rest of this series?[/h]Although he played just 12-plus minutes, an argument can be made -- as by Sam Vecenie of The Athletic on Twitter -- that Durant's presence swung Game 5. After all, Golden State outscored Toronto by six points in that span and then held on despite being outscored by five the rest of the game. Even a brief Durant appearance allowed the Warriors to limit the minutes played by reserves Andrew Bogut and Alfonzo McKinnie, putting less strain on the team's thin bench.
Now, Golden State goes back to the rotation that produced a 3-1 deficit through the first four games of this series. In particular, Durant's injury puts more pressure on DeMarcus Cousins to contribute offensively, which has been hit or miss throughout the series. It appeared that Cousins would be out of the rotation on Monday before Durant's injury, but he came off the bench to provide 20 crucial minutes, scoring 14 points. If Cousins struggles in Game 6 or potentially Game 7, Steve Kerr has few alternatives for supplemental scoring.
[h=1]EDITOR'S PICKS[/h]

• [h=2]'An incredible win and a horrible loss': Scenes from an unforgettable Game 5[/h]
• [h=2]NBA players react to Kevin Durant injury[/h]

The other challenge for Kerr and the Warriors is filling out the wing rotation. That gets more difficult if McKinnie is largely out of the mix after ineffective outings in Games 3 and 4. Quinn Cook's shooting was valuable in Game 5, and Golden State might have to extend his minutes to keep from overtaxing Andre Iguodala, who played a more reasonable 30 minutes in Game 5 after logging 38 in Game 4.
The Warriors are favored at home in Game 6 without Durant (by 3.5 points at Caesars sportsbook as of Monday night), but without him they would likely be considered underdogs if the series reaches a Game 7 in Toronto. Despite the dominance of road teams in this series (4-1 so far, though Golden State would have to win at home to force a Game 7), the value of home court is enormous historically in Game 7, at 5.7 points since 1984, after considering the regular-season point differential of the two teams.
Although there's broad evidence that home-court advantage is in decline, including three road wins in the past five playoff Game 7s -- one of them by the Warriors last year at Houston in the Western Conference finals -- Golden State's path to a championship is still uphill. Looking at a larger sample, the home team has won 11 of 16 Game 7s the past five postseasons, a 69% rate.

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[h=2]How much time can Durant be expected to miss?[/h]The timetable for Achilles ruptures can vary widely from player to player, but within the past decade, no NBA player has returned to game action any sooner than 7 ? months after suffering the injury. Wesley Matthews had the fastest comeback, playing in the Dallas Mavericks' final preseason game in October 2015 after being sidelined in early March while playing for the Portland Trail Blazers.
A 7 ?-month rehab would put Durant's return near the end of January. Conversely, other players have taken closer to a year to come back. The Warriors opted to handle Cousins' rehab conservatively, and he missed a week short of a full year before debuting for Golden State in January. Brandon Jennings, whose Achilles rupture occurred a month and a half before Matthews had the same injury, didn't return until nearly New Year's Day, more than 11 months after the injury.
The longer timeline for Durant's return would keep him out for the entire 2019-20 regular season, an outcome he must weigh heading into possible free agency.

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[h=2]What does the injury mean for Durant's free agency?[/h]First, let's be clear: An Achilles rupture shouldn't deter any team Durant considers from offering him a max contract. Durant is simply too valuable -- worth far more than the maximum salary prior to his injury -- and the opportunity to get a player of his accomplishments is too rare for teams to worry about his short-term status.
[h=1]2019 NBA Finals[/h] Find everything you need to know about the NBA Finals here.
• Schedules, matchups and more
• Sources: Warriors fear KD tore Achilles
• NBA players react to Kevin Durant injury
• Can Warriors come back without Durant?
• Predictions: Favorites and likely MVPs
• What's next for eliminated teams?

That said, Durant has options. Specifically, he has a $31.5 million player option for 2019-20. If he wants to focus on getting healthy rather than worrying about his new basketball home, Durant could pick up his option and prepare for unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2020.
However, because Durant isn't currently making the max, doing so would cost him an estimated $6.65 million, given the $38.15 million he could make in free agency based on current cap projections. (Durant could make that amount next season regardless of whether he re-signs with the Warriors as a free agent or leaves, though Golden State could offer larger raises and an additional fifth year on the contract.)
Given the financial incentives, it would be surprising if Durant picks up his player option. In terms of his next contract, his injury might not affect his free agency at all. What could change is the aggressiveness of whatever team lands Durant -- in the event he leaves the Warriors -- to win now. If Durant will be limited or entirely unavailable in 2019-20, it might make more sense to orient the roster toward competing the following season, when he will be closer to 100 percent.

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[h=2]How effective will Durant be when he returns?[/h]In all likelihood, Durant won't be the same player when he's back on the court. Of the 20 players for whom I have statistics for the season of their Achilles injury and the following season, just four performed better after returning than projected based on their pre-injury stats, according to my SCHOENE projection system. (These projections account for age and other factors besides injury that could be responsible for decline or improvement.)

On average, players have performed about 8% worse than projected in coming back from Achilles ruptures, though there is some indication that the rehab process is improving. Over the past decade, that figure has declined to about 6.5%, and three out of 11 players have beaten their projections.
Durant can take hope from fellow Maryland native Rudy Gay, one of those three players. Gay's most recent two seasons with the San Antonio Spurs after an Achilles rupture in January 2017 have been two of his most efficient seasons. Gay posted a career-best .583 true shooting percentage this year at age 32.
Even before the injury, Durant's best days were likely behind him, given that he'll turn 31 prior to the 2019-20 season. Still, applying a 6.5% decrease to Durant's 2019-20 projections would leave him one of the league's better players, if perhaps no longer quite in the conversation for the single best player in the NBA. That's an encouraging prospect after the difficult image of Durant being helped off the floor Monday following an injury that will have a huge impact on the league both in the remainder of this series and beyond.

If you haven’t seen this Rady wrote a nice article on the KD injury and the Knicks. Rady sports writer, webmaster, tech guru and number one Knicks fan.

https://www.knicksonline.com/columns/kevin-durants-injury-and-the-knicks-free-agency.html/amp

Durant had surgery on his ruptured Achilles? tendon today. Road to recovery begins soon.

Kevin Durant underwent surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old, two-time Finals MVP announced the surgery on social media and said his "road back starts now." Most Achilles rehabs take around 12 months, so KD may be out until the 2021-22 season. He will have to determine if he wants to opt in on his $31.5 million player option, or if a team offers him a long-term max contract. Durant may not be able to play another NBA game until he's 32 years old, but he's been one of the most consistent players in the NBA over the last decade. In fact, for fantasy he's been a top-eight player per game in each of the last 11 seasons. It'll be an uphill climb, but KD's days of dominating on the stat sheet aren't over.

I wonder if he takes less than max to atone for fact that team signing him will be paying him big money for a full year he?ll sit out.

Every bit helps.

I was thinking today about how a guy like Dolan would definitely see the value in having an all-time great like Durant retire as a Knick. All the milestones he will hit in the next few seasons. It will be a marketing bonanza for the franchise. Imagine he plays until he is 36 or 37 years old, even with diminishing performance. Durant is worth a lost year if he stays healthy after that. Big if though.

Jalen Rose:

?If you?re a team like the Knicks, you now have an opportunity to get a redshirt year. If you sign KD, you obviously put him on the shelf for a year, you allow all of your young pieces ? Knox, RJ Barrett, Dennis Smith Jr. ? you allow them to grow, get back into the lottery, and then all of a sudden you get another lottery pick, hopefully somebody else to come play with KD, and you try to build that way.

?. You sign KD at all costs if you?re New York. The same way their fans thought that they might get Zion even though the percentage was only in the teens, if you sign KD, that?s definite. You?ve got him in uniform. Now you can pick and choose who comes to play with him, you can grow your young talent, you can go back into the lottery and get another player, then all of a sudden a year from now you?re a [contender].?

The more I think about it the more it helps KD and NYK that things have played out this way....

1) It forces NYK to continue building their foundation.... no sense trading farm for AD now.

2) KD is allowed room to redshirt, heel, acclimate and return. Expectations cut in half... so, he still gets all the good (if he wins he?s a legend).... and if he doesn?t win (he was hurt and not the same player).

Knicks get kids experience and continue building foundation. They add another max this year or next...

I will say this, us Knick fans are pretty good at finding silver linings.

tiger0330 said:

If you haven’t seen this Rady wrote a nice article on the KD injury and the Knicks. Rady sports writer, webmaster, tech guru and number one Knicks fan.

https://www.knicksonline.com/columns/kevin-durants-injury-and-the-knicks-free-agency.html/amp

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Nice article Rady .... I been skeptical bout Durant's injury since Iggy return from a calf injury that cost him only one game rest.
Plus as a long time Knick fan the thought of a Super-Star or a star FA signing on to the Knicks has become a JOKE after the Ewing trade!
I never thought Durant would ever want to be a part of the Dolan's mismanagement Knicks organization.
The past 2 Knicks season, the best i could do for the Knicks were dream, hope and imagine a star FA like the young 2-Way leadership of SG Klay Thomas or the NBA top play-making PG Chris Paul signed on to the Knicks. Or the Knicks sign Mark Jackson as their head-coach to a 4 yr contract.

The thought of Durant being injured the next season and a half should take KD out of the Knicks 2019 star FA search in the offseason.
If the Raptors didn't take a 3-1 lead in the FINALS .. we fans (and Mills/Perry) wouldn't have found out how bad KD injury were in Game-5 !!!

KD was calling his Warrior teammates his brothers in his post operation twitter posts and did you see the Warrior GM Myers crying discussing KD's injury. There seems to be a deep connection there that KD might not want to let go and the Dubs are the only ones that can sign him to one of those supermax deals. He may pick up his option this year, rehab and then sign that supermax deal with the Warriors.

tiger0330 said:

KD was calling his Warrior teammates his brothers in his post operation twitter posts and did you see the Warrior GM Myers crying discussing KD's injury. There seems to be a deep connection there that KD might not want to let go and the Dubs are the only ones that can sign him to one of those supermax deals. He may pick up his option this year, rehab and then sign that supermax deal with the Warriors.

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I?m sure Durant called his OKC teammates brothers at some point too. The Warriors GM crying was kind of hard to believe. No doubt these guys all like each other, but this is all a business to them. If Durant was planning on leaving GS, I?m assuming he still does it.

KD is thinking about challenges and his legacy. He has nothing more to gain if he stays with the Warriors. This was why he was leaving... forget DG yelling at him ?we can do it without you? and the owner claiming KD not same as SC, bc Curry a lifer with GSW.

He went there to get his chips and help them sustain a dynasty. Probably told them it was a 1 contract thing.

I imagine he?s thought out this move as part of his fleeing OKC strategy. Playing with Curry and Klay more fun than playing with Russell. I?ll go there and get me rings... then spend second part of career in NYC and trying to win there.