Knicks put bizarre spin on Kawhi Leonard’s dismissive comment

The ongoing inability of the New York Knicks to attract top-end free-agent talent has been a source of frustration for the organization for quite some time. It has gotten so bad, it appears, that the Knicks have no choice but to evidently try to find a silver lining when superstars available in free agency continue to shun the team.

The Knicks were believed to be in the mix for some of the most highly coveted superstars available in free agency this past offseason. Unfortunately, it was a huge swing and a miss, as the Knicks failed to land even one upper-tier free agent.

Kawhi Leonard was among the handful of players the Knicks had set their sights on — a list that included Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving as well — but the Los Angeles Clippers star indicated last week that the team was never on his radar.

“I never said I was considering going to the Knicks,’’ Leonard said. “Everybody knew where I wanted to go and that was requested in the trade, so I don’t know where that came from.’’

According to a report from the New York Post, Knicks brass believes Leonard’s comments validated their decision to pass on a meeting with the superstar in the initial days of free agency. Between how the Knicks believed signing Leonard was unlikely and the fact that their meeting with him would come after his sit-downs with the Lakers, Clippers and Raptors, New York opted to make a quick withdrawal from the Kawhi sweepstakes.

Despite the benefit of being in the biggest, arguably most attractive market in all of sports, the Knicks continue to be the NBA’s laughingstock franchise. Thanks to a longstanding and pervasive organizational dysfunction spearheaded by owner James Dolan, the Knicks continue to spin their wheels in a seemingly Sisyphean effort at a return to relevancy.

What’s more, this latest apparent effort to turn lemons into lemonade as it relates to Leonard spurning the team only further establishes that embarrassing reputation.