Report: Knicks Expressing ‘Caution’ On Signing Kevin Durant, Want To See Medical Reports

The Knicks have expressed “caution” on signing Kevin Durant in free agency and want to see his medical reports after he had surgery for a torn Achilles’, according to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.

“The New York Knicks, meaning specifically Mr. Dolan, expressed a bit of caution, or dare I say reluctance, to offer Kevin Durant the max,” Smith said Wednesday on ESPN’s ‘First Take. “….He wants to see the medical report, he wants to see the New York Knicks go through that with a fine-tooth comb.”

Durant, who had surgery June 12 in a New York City hospital after getting injured in the NBA Finals, will officially enter free agency after declining his $31.5 million player option, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant has declined his $31.5M player option and will become an unrestricted free agent, league sources tell ESPN. Durant and his business manager Rich Kleiman are in New York, evaluating free agency options. So far, process has stayed private.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 26, 2019

The Knicks were considered by many around the NBA to be the favorite to land Durant before the injury, but now the Warriors and Nets are also strong contenders in addition to the Knicks. The Warriors can offer Durant a 5-year, $221-million deal, while any other team can offer a 4-year, $164-million contract.

KD Will likely lose about a year depending on the severity of his Achilles injury per ⁦@Stephania_ESPN⁩ pic.twitter.com/TCf8FLTcLe

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) June 12, 2019

The Knicks have $70 million in cap space and have told fans to be “patient” going forward this summer. The game plan may now be to build around young players like R.J. Barrett, Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinson, Dennis Smith Jr. and Iggy Brazdeikis.

“According to who I’ve spoken to, [Dolan] is not sitting there saying, ‘Don’t do it [sign Durant],'” Smith said on ESPN. “He’s saying, ‘Let’s make sure we dot every i, cross every t with that medical report. We want to get our hands on it, we want to make sure we cover our bases.'”

Smith added: “If you’re Dolan, you need to know you’re Dolan and you can’t do that. You just can’t because it gets in the way of what you’re trying to do because you’re Dolan. That’s the problem.”

The Knicks owner has been at the center of several controversies related to the team. Most recently, the NBA fined the Knicks $50,000 for refusing to allow the Daily News into the Barrett/Brazdeikis press conference last Friday. Dolan also started a fire storm by having beloved former Knick Charles Oakley arrested at Madison Square Garden in February 2017.

How all of this will impact Durant remains to be seen. In May, his manager Rich Kleiman said Durant was undecided on his future. That, of course, was before the injury and before the NBA Finals where Golden State lost to Toronto without Durant.

“That is 100 percent undecided and I’m waiting on Kevin, that’s the truth,” Durant’s manager, Rich Kleiman, told the Wall Street Journal’s Jason Gay. “I think there’s a feeling this thing is like war games and everybody is playing chess years out, but when somebody gets to the level of basketball that he’s at, you can’t juggle focus like that. There’s so many things he’s juggling, too. He’s not scripting his future while he’s playing the way he plays, and practices the way he practices. I think it’s frustrating, honestly, at times.”

Kleiman added: “He really doesn’t know, and I really don’t know.”

Kevin Durant is “100 percent undecided” on where he’s playing next, his manager @RichKleiman says at The #WSJFuture Of Everything Festival. “He really doesn’t know, and I really don’t know.” pic.twitter.com/1fEw2kYZqm

— WSJ Sports (@WSJSports) May 21, 2019