New York Knicks rumors: Max contract was never offered to Kevin Durant

Recent New York Knicks rumors will devastate some fans, as it sounds like the organization came up short in their contract offer for Kevin Durant.

In recent weeks there have been plenty of New York Knicks rumors swirling. A lot of those rumors had fans buzzing, as Kevin Durant looked like he was heading to the Big Apple.

After multiple decades of Knicks ineptitude, Durant was expected to help get the organization back on track. Despite rupturing his Achilles in the NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors, Durant still carried star power that fans craved. It was also believed that Durant would bring someone along with him, whether it be Kyrie Irving or Kawhi Leonard.

Unfortunately, those Knicks rumors did not come to fruition. Durant did indeed team up with someone in New York, as he and Irving will share the same court once Durant returns from injury. Disappointingly, that team-up will occur in a neighboring borough, as Durant agreed to a deal with the Brooklyn Nets.

The decision was shared by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN on Twitter:

In addition to Durant and Irving, the Nets are also signing DeAndre Jordan, a close friend of Durant. New York had acquired Jordan from the Dallas Mavericks prior to the NBA Trade Deadline with an eye toward free agency, hoping Jordan could sell Durant on the Knicks.

Instead of that happening, the two are now moving to Brooklyn together.

Losing Durant and Irving, the duo fans were hoping for, to the team 20 minutes away hurts enough. Knowing that his decision to go to the Nets was self-inflicted makes it even worse.

According to ESPN‘s Ramona Shelburne and Wojnarowski, the Knicks didn’t want to offer Durant a max deal because of the injury that he suffered. James Dolan and the team were not prepared to make a max offer to Durant as a result.

This is sickening to hear for Knicks fans. Yes, the injury that Durant suffered is a bad one, but the fact that everyone else was offering a max contract to Durant makes them look even more foolish. The Golden State Warriors, who know his status as much as anyone, even offered him a five-year supermax. Coming to the table without a max offer is ridiculous.

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This is an organization that shelled out a fully guaranteed contract to Amar’e Stoudemire nine years ago despite having a lengthy injury history of his own. Joakim Noah was signed despite injury similar concerns and Andrea Bargnani was acquired via trade.

Going back even further, Eddy Curry received a massive contract of his own, and before that James Jones was given a huge free agency contract. The Antonio McDyess trade still gives some people chills to this day.

Those were all deals that Dolan approved. But, for whatever reason, he decided this was the time to not okay a deal with a player coming off an injury. Those three players are nowhere near the level that Durant is.

There is some risk in signing Durant. He will be 32 when he returns to the court from his serious injury. There aren’t many examples of a player bouncing back from an injury of this magnitude at that age outside of Dominique Wilkins.

It shows the Knicks are looking to be more careful when building a team, but at the same time, it is the same old Knicks. Dolan says that he is not meddling in basketball operations, yet it is his name attached to the report, along with the team not being prepared to offer a max deal.

Only time will tell if the Knicks made the right decision about passing on Durant, but right now, this is a move that hurts, especially since they look to have sabotaged themselves.