New York Knicks: The Kevin Durant injury conundrum

The New York Knicks were a topic around the league after game 5 of the NBA Finals. Andrew Elderbaum has an opinion on Kevin Durant’s devastating injury.

I can’t decide that being a New York Knicks fan is more Sisyphean or Promethean. Maybe it’s a case of the team rolling the rock up the hill to have it go right back over them, and we as a fan will spend eternity having our livers gnawed on. It’s official…the Knicks have left the realm of sports, and their comps are now Greek tragedies.

This was the offseason that was supposed to be different; they finally had a clear direction and were the team with the wink agreement with a marquee free agent. Then Kevin Durant shredded his Achilles and the Knicks plans for the future along with it. I blame myself for saying “at least their not the Los Angeles Lakers” over and over again, as they could find themselves in the same position as the dumpster fire in L.A.

The simple call is you still sign Durant to a max deal, and let him rehab for a year.  Keep all your young players and give them another season of development, while playing poorly enough to earn another lottery pick. Don’t sign anyone else, and keep the cap space free to acquire another star via trade or free agency. This is the Knicks, however, so nothing is simple.

One issue with that plan is that the 2020 free agent class is not particularly useful unless Anthony Davis refuses to sign any extensions if/when he is traded. I suppose you could roll the dice and wait another year and make a run at Giannis Antetokounmpo, but Durant will be heading into his age 33 seasons at that point.

The other issue is Durant himself. He is not 25 or 26 years old, but 30. Next season will be his 12th and if he misses all or most of it your offering a max deal to a player entering his age 32 season, after suffering an injury that few players return form and perform at the same level they did prior.

This will be the second serious injury Durant has suffered, with a 2014 foot fracture that caused him to miss the beginning of that season, and led to other foot and ankle ailments that ultimately led to surgery and him missing the rest of that season. Seven-foot players with multiple serious lower leg injuries are always a cause for concern.

Durant is a good enough shooter, and smart enough player to still be a capable scorer even if his performance does fall off eight to ten percent which seems to be the average drop after an Achilles tear. Is a top 25 player in the NBA worth the same max deal as a player who might be the best in the league warranted? That’s the question the Knicks will be facing this offseason.

The dangers of that deal can be seen across the country in Los Angeles. Lebron James who has been borderline indestructible throughout his career (other than when he loses, and suddenly appears with casts on his hand) suffered the first significant injury of his career this year and submarines the Lakers season. I understand James is almost four years older than Durant, but he also had been injury free his entire career.

So can the Knicks afford to guess wrong with Durant? Financially they will be fine, and could still field a competitive team if their young players continue to develop. They will not, however, be a championship contender.

I think the team has to throw caution to the wind and offer Durant the max he is seeking and hopes he doesn’t end up another Amare Stoudemire. If he does the Knicks will be looking at 50 years without a championship, and the next GM can go after Luka Doncic as a free agent and roll that rock right back up the hill.