Brandon Dill/Associated Press
Count Scottie Pippen among the skeptics about Kevin Durant signing with the New York Knicks this summer.
“I’m not buying none of this,” Pippen said Friday on The Jump regarding Durant joining the Knicks. “Why would KD even leave? What’s the point? Why would you leave Golden State? You’re gonna be the highest paid player on the team, you’re winning. I don’t see KD leaving. I think he left OKC to find happiness … he’s found happiness.”
The Durant-Knicks rumors have been rampant throughout the 2018-19 season. Durant is an impending free agent, and the Knicks traded Kristaps Porzingis, along with Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee, to the Dallas Mavericks at the deadline to open up two max salary spaces.
The Knicks are widely expected to use that space to pursue Durant and another marquee free agent, most notably close KD pal Kyrie Irving.
Durant has publicly bristled at the rumors, particularly in the aftermath of the Porzingis trade.
“I have nothing to do with the Knicks,” Durant told reporters. “I don’t know who traded Porzingis. That got nothing to do with me. I’m trying to play basketball.”
Durant has not given the Warriors any type of commitment and told gathered media at the All-Star Game that he’ll “figure it out once we’re done playing.”
“I play basketball for the Warriors, and my main concern is to be the best basketball player I can be every day,” Durant said. “I have no concern about trade moves or transactions throughout the season with other teams.”
Durant has won a pair of Finals MVPs with the Warriors but has taken consistent criticism over signing with a team that won 73 regular-season games a year prior. Leaving for a different franchise—and perhaps saving the Knicks from years of treachery near the bottom of the Eastern Conference—and winning a championship may be the only thing that will fully cement Durant’s legacy.
That said, it’ll be a surprise to Pippen if it happens.
from Top Viral News Blog https://ift.tt/2U2XHB2
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