Odds Favor Both Kevin Durant & Kyrie Irving Signing With Knicks in Free Agency
- The New York Knicks are favored to sign both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving this offseason
- The Knicks will also have the no. 3 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft
- The Knicks finished with the fewest wins in the NBA last season
The New York Knicks’ odds to win the 2020 NBA Championship have shot up on complete speculation that they’ll sign Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. While it does appear to be just a rumor so far, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
The oddsmakers doubted these two stars would head to New York earlier this month, but the different bookmakers seem convinced they’ll team up in Gotham.
Kevin Durant 2019 Free Agency Odds
| Team | Odds to Sign Kevin Durant |
|---|---|
| New York Knicks | -125 |
| Golden State Warriors | +175 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | +500 |
| Brooklyn Nets | +600 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | +650 |
| Dallas Mavericks | +2200 |
*All odds taken 05/22/19
Durant Looks Like He’s Leaving Golden State
As the Golden State Warriors advance to the NBA Finals, the writing seems to be on the wall that Durant is likely to leave. They look like they’ll be fine without him as they beat the Houston Rockets in the two games he was sidelined and then they also swept the Portland Trail Blazers. For whatever reason, this has invigorated the team.
Everyone knows Golden State is Steph Curry’s team. Durant wants to be a foundational piece; not the cherry on top.
As for Durant, he is looking to blaze a new trail for himself where he can be the star. He wanted to win some championships and he accomplished that, but everyone knows Golden State is Steph Curry’s team. He wants to be a foundational piece; not the cherry on top.
For a long period of time, the assumption was that the Knicks were the favorite. However, on Wednesday, Marc Stein of The New York Times suggested that the Los Angeles Clippers are an equal player.
Kyrie Irving 2019 Free Agency Odds
| Team | Odds to Sign Kyrie Irving |
|---|---|
| New York Knicks | +100 |
| Brooklyn Nets | +250 |
| Boston Celtics | +290 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | +350 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | +1100 |
| Dallas Mavericks | +1600 |
Irving on His Way Out?
Irving wanted to be the man, which is why he asked to be traded away from James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, as the man in Boston, he’s taken far more scrutiny than he expected. Now it looks like he’s again on his way out as he simply didn’t fit the Celtics’ system.
The general consensus is that Irving has similar feelings to Durant and wants to be the man – or one of the top dogs – somewhere else. He wants to be a ball-dominant player – as he was in Cleveland – and Boston’s system didn’t cater to that.
What’s the Best Bet?
The general sense is that Durant wants the spotlight and he’ll never get it being in Los Angeles while LeBron James is there. The appeal of the Big Apple, the stage of Madison Square Garden, and the opportunity to be the savior of the franchise is what Durant is looking for.
As for Irving, there are other teams on the table like Brooklyn, but that doesn’t make sense with D’Angelo Russell already there. And any rumors of rejoining LeBron James and signing with the Los Angeles Lakers has been firmly rejected.
Durant and Irving want to play together and want to build together. The Knicks just seems like that storybook ending (or beginning) that they’re looking for. Bet the Knicks.
For over 15 years, Dave has been working in mainstream media and sports betting. He hosted a station on Sirius Satellite Radio for four years, and is currently a senior writer for AskMen. He's interviewed hundreds of hundreds of high-profile sports stars like Shaquille O'Neal and Floyd Mayweather.
