Jared Dudley says Knicks could have landed Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant
At some point in the conversation between Lakers forward Jared Dudley and Michael Lee of the Athletic, they tackled the possible signing of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to the New York Knicks.
According to Dudley, a former Nets player, the Knicks could have landed both Kyrie and KD so easily if the front office knew how to run the team.
“And let’s be honest, if the Knicks were run right, the Knicks could get them easily. It’s not even close,” he claims. “If the Knicks were halfway decent, they get KD and Kyrie.
But unfortunately, both superstars chose to sign with the Brooklyn Nets and now they are angling to compete for the championship this season as Kevin Durant will be able to play again after suffering a torn Achilles injury.
Dudley also shared his thoughts about the firing of Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson.
“So, when Kenny gets fired, you go, ‘OK, from a coaching standpoint, not having KD and Kyrie, Caris hurt 20-something games,” Dudley said.
“You look at their talent level, obviously, they’re seventh seed in the East. If they had Gregg Popovich, they would’ve had a better seed. You have to have a certain talent. But I just don’t know, because if you would’ve told me Steve Kerr was going to come out of the booth and go right to coaching and they’re going to win championships, we all would’ve said it’s crazy. But when you have talented players, anything can happen. So Kenny Atkinson could’ve made it work. I just thought he deserved the chance to be able to see if he could.”
It seems like Jared feels pity for the former Nets coach. Maybe he has a point because he played under his system last season. According to numerous rumors, Irving had some part in Atkinson’s dismissal. If that’s true, the team is not in a good atmosphere to boost their team chemistry and it might result in frustrations.
At the moment, Knicks management is still in adversity on signing star players that will help them be known again in basketball. On the bright side was the selection of RJ Barrett, the 3rd overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. If Barrett turns out to be a star, maybe they will be a championship contender in the next coming years.
