New York Knicks: A realistic look at the 2019-20 starting lineup

Not the biggest star power, but a good team

Although this lineup may be one of the worst possible scenarios for the Knicks, let’s look at this from an honest and totally unbiased perspective. Why would Durant want to leave the Warriors? It really doesn’t make sense as to why his odds of joining the Knicks are so high other than the fact that the media is hyping it up so much.

With all of the media buzz, oddsmakers literally have no choice but to make KD to the Knicks a real possibility even if he has no interest in signing here. Durant has a chance to have his name in the rafters at Golden State and be a driving force in the greatest dynasty the NBA has ever seen. Why would he want to throw that away to go to a mediocre Knicks team with a terrible front office and vulture-like fans?

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For Kyrie, there’s a lot of rumors that he could reunite with LeBron James on the Lakers and end up in Los Angeles when all is said and done. I can see this happening over anything else because it’s what’s comfortable to him. He won a ring with James and now that he’s gotten a taste of ‘leading’ his own team, he’s ready to play second fiddle to King James again.

Quite frankly, when Irving was able to let LeBron run the show and he was the second option, it was arguably the scariest tandem in the NBA. Irving was only 23 at the duo’s peak. It makes sense and it’s something that will more than likely happen given the right dollar incentive. Listen, are New York Knicks fans really going to be that mad if Irving doesn’t come to New York and the consolation prize is Walker? I don’t think so.

New York is the type of market for the strong hearted type of player. Somebody who has grit and dedication to the franchise, which is something that neither Irving or Durant have too much of. Not to mention, both of these players HATE the media in their respective locations of Boston and the Bay Area. What makes people think that they’ll be able to handle the media hub of the world?

If the Knicks sign any of these players, cool. It’ll definitely help them win some games. How much better is this team going to get, however, without much bench depth, which is what New York really needs. We see teams such as the Bucks, Raptors, or Spurs not only rely on their starters and superstars to win games, but it’s a full team effort.

If NYK invests all of their cap space on signing players like Durant or Irving then they waste the potential of being a threat for a full game, while the stars are resting.

Instead, they should put their into one superstar (Walker), and focus on making the entire roster something respectable that can win games and develop over the course of the 2019-20 season. The Knicks can spend on players like Danny Green, Thaddeus Young, Jeremy Lamb, and Nikola Mirotic who aren’t bonafide stars but are proven commodities coming off the bench.

This is a make or break offseason for the New York Knicks. I hope for their sake that they can make the right decisions in free agency once Durant and Irving sign elsewhere. If not, well it’s not the end of the world. They still have a young core group of players that can develop together and become a solid team eventually. If they want to win now which I’m assuming most impatient fans want, then this is the formula that they should consider following.