There is no way you go to the #2 Franchise in the #1 Market if the #1 Franchise is available.
Yeah, well wait til Kawhi signs with the Clippers.
(actually I think/hope he'll stay with TOR)
The way I see it:
1) BKY has a better team with significant role players ready to play with a star or two. LaVert, Dinwiddie, Jarrett Allen, DMC, Kurucs, RHJ, JoeHarris. Maybe Ed Davis and possibly Tangelo.
They have a 20+ game head start on NYK. They got a taste of the playoffs. They have a terrific young coach.
Who is the Knix best player next year?
Maybe the incoming rook ...
Jr. Smith, Mud, Mitch, Knox, maybe Vonleh, possibly DeAndre.
That's a lot more unproven talent than BKY.
Nets players are ready for a leap; Knix aren't.
And I think it will dissuade Durnat, because you don't know who the Knix would bring in and who would go to make a competitive team. Figure Mitch stays, and everyone else potentially gone.
2) Knix always have drama and problems and distractions. Always. You get dumb stuff like Larry Brown holding roadside press conferences. Or rape trials. Guys getting sent away from the team. I can't believe the way Melo, and KZ and Noah were treated goes unnoticed. Knix also churn through coaches and have a 2nd year coach returning.
3) The pressure and press attention is less in BKY. The expectations lower. Durant and Kyrie both are good with the press. And would invite more of the Knick paranoid style of media dealings. With NYK you always get measured by the long-ago championship teams or the 90's Riley/JVG teams. In BKY, if you win or are very competitive there you can create a new legacy, not merely try to match what has been done before. NYK sets you up for failure, BKY is almost a blank slate, with the NJ days in the past. Succeed in BKY and you make a huge splash.
Summary: Knix offer too much uncertainty, unreadiness and potential for failure. BKY lets you breathe and is a more ready-made gig.
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