NBA: Knicks Not Part Of Forward's Thinking During Free Agency

Kevin Durant joined the Golden State Warriors from Oklahoma City Thunder under controversial circumstances in 2016 but for the player it was simple – he wanted to win titles. The small forward won two NBA championships and on both occasions was named the NBA Finals MVP and made one more final in 2019.

The 30-year-old was primed to be the most sought after free agent in recent memory until injury struck during Game 5 of the 2019 Finals ruling him out for the entire 2019-20 season. The Warriors still wanted to keep him and interest from other teams did not diminish as much as expected but eventually, he chose the Brooklyn Nets, joining them on a four-year deal worth $164 million.

Durant was heavily linked with a move to the New York Knicks but the forward has revealed that the Nets were his only option when he decided to leave the Warriors this summer. He believes they have the right pieces going forward in terms of both playing and front office staff.

“If I was leaving the Warriors, it was always going to be for the Nets,” Durant told Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes. “They got the pieces and a creative front office. I just like what they were building.”

One thing that became pretty clear during the course of the 2018-19 season and something that was constantly discussed was the close friendship between Durant and Kyrie Irving, who was with the Boston Celtics last season. There was talk about the two players teaming up in New York, but Durant revealed that them joining the Nets – Irving left the Celtics and joined the Brooklyn franchise – was not planned and that it just came together.

“I think the friendship part of the league has really grown, especially since LeBron James and Dwyane Wade became such great friends and ended up playing together,” Durant added. “People see friendship as the way guys are teaming up. There’s nothing wrong with people speculating.”

“That’s just what it is, but we’re just good friends no matter what. We didn’t have to play together. It wasn’t necessary. But, we were friends before anything, and we just happened to want to hoop together. But it wasn’t a thing we planned. It just came together.”

Durant also spoke about a potential return date from the Achilles rupture he suffered during Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals and did not rule out a return before the end of the 2019-20 campaign. He is expected to miss the entire season but he is not willing to look so far ahead and revealed that he is taking it one day at a time.

“I don’t know,” Durant said when asked about him missing the entire season. “Just like I didn’t know I was going to get hurt. I don’t know. We’ll see. I’m early in the process. So I’m grinding every day. I’m not even trying to think that far. That’s not going to do me any good. So I just try to focus on what I can control right now, second by second. Who knows? We’ll see.”