Knicks trade proposal almost got 8-time All-Star: Report

The Knicks and the Celtics discussed a trade in 2019 that would send Kyrie Irving to New York and Kristaps Porzingis to Boston, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.

In an article previewing the 2024 NBA Finals – featuring Irving’s Mavericks against Porzingis’ Celtics – Fischer revisited the canceled 2019 trade.

“…In late January [in 2019], when New York’s front office began quietly pursuing deals to move away from Porziņgis, the Celtics and Knicks even had tangible dialogue about trading Irving for the 7-2 sharpshooter , league sources told Yahoo Sports, before the Mavericks swooped in and sent a package containing two first-round picks to New York,” Fischer wrote on June 3.

Following those canceled trade talks, the Knicks reportedly traded Porzingis to the Mavericks in exchange for Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews, and two first-round draft picks. Irving, meanwhile, would leave Boston as a free agent to join Kevin Durant as a member of the Brooklyn Nets.