James Dolan revealed the New York Knicks have already heard from players and their representatives expressing interest in joining the franchise this offseason.
The Knicks have been linked with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
“No, look, New York is the mecca of basketball,” Dolan said. “We hear from people all the time, from players, representatives. It’s about who wants to come. We can’t respond because of the NBA rules, but that doesn’t stop them from telling us and they do.
“I can tell you from what we’ve heard I think we’re going to have a very successful offseason when it comes to free agents. The thing about the team now is that it’s very young. It’s the youngest team in the NBA. You take a look at some of the players that we have and they won’t be the centerpiece of the team, but as complements to the centerpiece of the team, we’re developing them right now.”
Dolan was asked if he expects the best available free agents to sign with the Knicks.
“Yes, I do think that,” he said. “I think we offer a pretty good situation for them. One, is a lot of them love New York. A bunch of them live in New York in the offseason. They know the team. They know [David Fizdale] really well. They know Steve [Mills) and they know Scott [Perry]. I think they’re fairly confident about the organization.
“Players who are free agents want to go to a winner and they want to get paid. We’re definitely going to pay them. And we think with them combined with the kids that we have, that we can build a winning team.”