Coming FA class includes
Durant, Kawhi, Butler, Kyrie, Klay, Vucevic, B-Lopez. I have excluded all those players that I feel wouldn't fit well on our team for various reasons or just have attitude or talent issues.
Let's assume for the moment that we do get Zion/Morant and whoever we get is THAT player who will be showing out for at least a decade, plus elite FAs actually want to come here, not yet proven.
Here are the combination options with KD:
1. Klay, this would be one of the best possible scenario. What the team desperately needs... shooting. In these 2 players, you get clutch shooters, one of whom scores 43 points of 4 dribbles..unheard of. This combination also gives you 2 players who are good on D, one of them Klay taking pride in total game defense and 2 players who do not need to bring up the ball to be effective. A PG who can pass the ball to them in the right spots...that's all they really need to be effective. Not to mention, they already have significant playing experience with each other. Lineup: Morant, Klay, KD, Knox, Mitch, a bit undersized in the front but a dynamo on offensive shooting every game with everyone except Mitch having capacity to get hot any second.
2. Kawhi, this is a great combo, but I am a little skeptical that Kawhi is one of those players that doesn't talk much and is not an affable player (remember that conference with that awkward laugh??), man the NY media would make fun of his personality a lot. Kawhi's defense and overall 2 way play is probably at par with Klay's if not better and he does have that clutch mentality on offense and defense. But with alpha dog mentality comes a clash with another alpha dog...KD. Although KD and Kawhi are both not "barking" individuals like Draymond, their cool calm composure is similar to Knox but a clear contrast to Zion...if the Knicks hit the trifecta, these 2 FAs + Zion and have Knox in the mix, from a game winning shot players type of mentality...there would be enough on the roster vs if Klay was on.
3. Kyrie: Not sure if this is a good mix, Kyrie dominates the ball and KD's success with the ball movement means that ball movement may go down. Kyrie + KD + Knox + Zion + Mitch is not as good of a combo as Frank + Klay + KD + Zion/Knox + Mitch.
4. Vucevic: Clearly on a bad team as well but dude does have Kevin Love like numbers. Could he fit the mold of Draymond Green for Warriors without the lip? Probably. That would be a Knicks best fit because in the front court we are going to lose Kanter, we won't have KP, DJ. So Vucevic with Mitch backing him up and Zion Knox next to Vucevic, gives us a great complimentary lineup of Frank, KD, Knox, Zion, Vucevic...that would still be "KD's team" and cause hell on O and D.
5. Klay+ B=Ropez...can one dream? B-Ropez signs a 1 yr deal with Knicks for whatever's left in cap space. Frank, Klay, KD, Zion/Knox, B-Ropez/Mitch....3 point shooting galore.
