Kyrie Irving's insistence on not signing a contract extension with the Boston Celtics means that he will likely become an unrestricted free agent in 2019 and, when that happens, the New York Knicks could be the biggest threat to steal him from Boston, according to SNY.tv.
This couldn't be any better timing for the Knicks, as they are tight on cap space this season, but are expected to have plenty when Irving is expected to hit the open market.
Irving's request for the Knicks in the past stems from not only being close to home, but playing with a versatile big man in Kristaps Porzingis. He has told the 7-foot-3 Latvian "I'd love to play with a big like you."
New York was one of the four teams that Irving requested to be traded to this past offseason and the North Jersey native is still high on playing for the Knicks.
New York does not plan to be major players on the free agent market this offseason in order to save cap space for next offseason, which will be when Irving is on the open market.
"What we’re really setting ourselves up is for the following summer," general manager Scott Perry said. "Just basically when I came in here in terms of cap space and availability, we’re not going to be a team with a whole lot of cap space this summer. So we’ll be looking for some shorter term, maybe some veteran players that can help some of our younger guys for this summer and really preparing and gearing up for free agency in the summer of ’19 and ’20."
Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, Kemba Walker, and DeAndre Jordan are also projected to be free agents in 2019.
Irving averaged 24.4 points and 5.1 assists last season before undergoing knee surgery.
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