In the hours leading up to 2019 free-agency, the world was ablaze with theories and rumors about Kahwi Leonard’s upcoming decision.
Among the teams reportedly in the running were the Knicks, who may or may not have had a meeting scheduled with Kawhi at some point during the summer.
Unfortunately for New York, Kawhi went the opposite way, picking the Clippers in a seemingly two-horse race with the Lakers. To make matters worse, the 2x Finals MVP apparently wasn’t even considering the Knicks this past summer, as he made clear in a post-game interview with the media.
Kawhi Leonard on considering the Knicks in free agency & cancelling a meeting with them – "I never said I was considering going to the Knicks. Everybody knew where I wanted to go & that was requested in the trade, so I don’t know where that came from.
"So it wasn’t true?"
"No." pic.twitter.com/pmgLBjTqxi
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) January 5, 2020
For all the noise New York generates, they likely had no footing in the Kawhi sweepstakes. L.A. has been linked to Leonard since his days in San Antonio. It’s home for him, and a place he had wanted to return to for years.
Plus, with how dysfunctional the Knickerbockers are, there was no incentive for Leonard to abandon the place he called home to go and play for them.
It marks yet another free-agency in which the Knicks were given virtually no chance by the game’s biggest stars. It’s become a rather common trend for the franchise.
