New York Knicks fans abound, Stephen A. Smith included, are feeling the Monday Blues extra hard today as all of their salary cap space resulted in the signings of Julius Randle, Taj Gibson, Bobby Portis, Reggie Bullock and Wayne Ellington, while the Brooklyn Nets acquired All-NBA players Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
In response to the immediate frustration from their fanbase, Knicks president Steve Mills released a statement in which he described how the team is "upbeat and confident" about their current path.
The statement reads:
“While we understand that some Knicks fans could be disappointed with tonight’s news, we continue to be upbeat and confident in our plans to rebuild the Knicks to compete for championships in the future, through the draft, targeted free agents and continuing to build around our core of young players."
Seeing Durant and Irving sign with Brooklyn is certainly tough to stomach for Knicks fans, but the team did not overpay for aging stars like they've done in the past, and they've stuck to short-term deals for all of their recent acquisitions. As noted by Mills, the Knicks finally seem committed to rebuilding through their young core and stockpile of future draft picks, which is reason to be hopeful despite the initial feelings of disappointment.
ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski also reported the Knicks never even met with Kevin Durant because the organization was not prepared to offer KD a max contract due to concerns over his achilles injury.