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New York Knicks: Convince Kyrie Irving, but Not Kevin Durant, to Sign
Irving, a New Jersey native, had the Knicks on his list of four teams he wanted the Cavs to trade him to in 2017.
Now, he finally has the freedom to join them.
“It’s pretty easy, man. They were on my list for a reason, I think you guys know that,” Irving told Knicks reporters in 2017, per Marc Berman of The New York Post. “Close to home, that’s about it. I’m not going to go into detail about all that extra stuff because I know where this is going to lead.”
Irving is a showman, a magician with the ball who’s not afraid of a challenge. New York offers the chance to demonstrate his skill set in a venue unlike any other in the world, on a roster that will indeed prove challenging.
While the Knicks’ dream of pairing Irving and Durant will die, landing half of the duo will still make for a successful summer.
Boston Celtics: Terry Rozier Returns on Four-Year, $80 million Contract
With Kyrie Irving leaving for the New York Knicks, the Celtics will scramble to fill his shoes by throwing the bag at Rozier.
After putting up 16.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists as a starter in the playoffs last year, Rozier was going to get paid somewhere. Even with his poor showing this postseason (8.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists on 35.7 percent shooting), the Celtics don’t have many other options with Irving gone.
If Irving were to return, Rozier’s asking price wouldn’t be justifiable. With the six-time All-Star gone and not enough cap space to land Kemba Walker, D’Angelo Russell or any other star guard, Rozier will have to do.
There’s no way he’s accepting less than the four-year, $70 million deal Eric Bledsoe got from the Milwaukee Bucks either.
Golden State Warriors: Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and DeMarcus Cousins All Return
With speculation swirling about Durant joining the New York Knicks, Thompson looking to lead his own team and the Cousins experiment coming to an end—all three could actually make a return.
Durant is in too good of a situation to leave. He could enter free agency with three rings and three Finals MVPs in three seasons and a five-year, $200-plus million offer ready to sign. Why leave that for anyone, even Irving and the Knicks?
Thompson will also sign a max deal, and Cousins a likely one-year pact similar to this year while he returns to full strength following a torn quad.
In other words, the Warriors aren’t going anywhere.
Phoenix Suns: No Free Agents Come, Trade for Kevin Love Instead
Continuous losing and watching the Trevor Ariza experiment crash and burn last year will keep players and their agents away from the Suns this summer.
Love is the Plan B here, as Phoenix has tried repeatedly in the past to get a big-name power forward in both LaMarcus Aldridge and Blake Griffin.
Why Love? General manager James Jones and Love were extremely close during their time together in Cleveland, and Jones would like to put a productive veteran with championship experience in his young locker room.
Sacramento Kings: Jimmy Butler Signs Four-Year, $140 million Deal
Despite the Sixers’ best effort to keep him, Butler wants a place where he can be the No. 1 offensive option on most nights.
While the Kings already possess a nice collection of young scorers, none are going to tell Butler no when he wants the ball.
A lineup of De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Butler, Harrison Barnes and Marvin Bagley would be a lot of fun to watch, so long as Butler doesn’t take too many shots away from Sacramento’s impressive young core.
Greg Swartz covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter. All stats via Basketball Reference or NBA.com, unless otherwise noted.
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