Knicks Reportedly Completely Bungled Chance at Kawhi Leonard Meeting

The New York Knicks have received plenty of flak over the past couple of days for their failure to ring in big name free agents like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The fan base is suffering, and they may not feel any better after this latest update.

According to a source who spoke with Marc Berman of the New York Post, Kawhi Leonard agreed to meet with the Knicks on July 3, after his scheduled meetings with the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers. The Knicks decided against waiting that long, and decided to spend their money elsewhere at the opening of free agency.

New York weighed their chances of landing the two-time NBA Finals MVP, and decided it wasn't worth the risk of waiting three days. Essentially taking themselves out of the running, the Knicks spent the majority of their $70 million in cap space in the first 20 hours of free agency.

During that spending spree, the Knicks signed Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, Reggie Bullock, Taj Gibson, Wayne Ellington and Elfrid Payton. New York feared that these free agents would be off the market before the time they met with Leonard and decided they would more than likely finish last behind the Lakers, Clippers and Toronto Raptors.

The Knicks saw the less than ideal success rate, and decided to stick with their plan of signing younger players to pair alongside third-overall pick RJ Barrett. The Knicks front office got their guys, with some coming at a rather hefty price.

It still doesn't take the sting away from Knick fans, who won't be happy to hear the team passed up on the opportunity to sign a top-five player in the league.