Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving reportedly planned to team up together some time ago.
According to Howard Beck of Bleacher Report, Durant and Irving had decided after a series of conversations prior to the start of the 2018-19 season that they wanted to play together, though they didn’t quite know where at that time.
Beck notes that the two did initially consider the New York Knicks, but the team’s disastrous season, coupled with the Brooklyn Nets’ success, led to the two stars dismissing the Knicks quickly. They felt that the Nets could offer the better supporting cast, infrastructure, and front office. Neither player was reportedly keen on being planted as a “savior” figure that they would have been had they joined the Knicks either.
Durant, Beck notes, never would have joined the Knicks alone, and talk of the team missing out on him due to their unwillingness to offer a max deal is a smokescreen.
There were other reasons that Durant left, including some disillusionment with the Golden State Warriors. However, it certainly sounds like this was in the offing far longer than anyone publicly knew.
