If Durant, Irving -- or both -- decide to sign elsewhere, it would leave the Knicks in a tough spot. They could go after Kawhi Leonard -- people close to Leonard saw New York as a possible destination for him prior to his trade to the Toronto Raptors -- but the general feeling around the league is that Leonard is more likely to end up with the Clippers or back in Toronto than a team in New York.
And it would surprise some opposing executives if the Knicks signed a player other than Durant, Irving or Leonard to a long-term contract this summer. Those executives expect the Knicks to use their projected league-high $74 million in cap room in other ways this summer -- acquiring a draft pick in a salary dump, signing players to short-term deals -- if they miss out on those top free agent targets.