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Kyrie Irving apparently isn’t the only member of the Boston Celtics the New York Knicks have on their radar this offseason.
According to NBC Sports Boston’s A. Sherrod Blakely, the Knicks are also looking at Marcus Morris and Terry Rozier as potential free-agent targets.
Irving, who can opt out of his contract this offseason, has long been linked to the Knicks. As he sought a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers in August 2017, Chris Haynes of ESPN.com reported the six-time All-Star would’ve welcomed a move to the Big Apple.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith reported May 11 the Knicks are confident Irving and Kevin Durant will team up to try and lead the franchise back to glory.
The Knicks have been down this road before, though. Time and again they’ve set their sights on key free agents, only to come up short-handed. Nothing encapsulated that more than when New York failed to land LeBron James in 2010 and instead signed Amare Stoudemire for $100 million over five years.
Because of that, the team’s front office needs to cast a wide net this summer in case Plan A falls apart.
Blakely also wondered if the Knicks might abandon the hunt for Irving if they win the 2019 NBA draft lottery and then attempt to flip the No. 1 overall draft pick to the New Orleans Pelicans as part of a trade package for Anthony Davis.
Neither Rozier nor Morris qualifies as a star-level free agent, but either would be valuable in the right situation.
Rozier averaged 9.0 points and 2.9 assists while shooting 35.3 percent from three-point range as Irving’s backup in 2018-19. Morris averaged 13.9 points and a career-high 6.1 rebounds. He also shot a career-best 44.7 percent from the field despite attempting more three-pointers (389) than in any other season.
Although Durant is one of the NBA’s best players, he alone wouldn’t make the Knicks a title contender. Signing Rozier or Morris would help provide the necessary depth for New York to make a deep playoff run.
from Update News Topic http://bit.ly/2LCCfyX
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