Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers admits he thought Kevin Durant was going to sign with the New York Knicks last offseason in free agency.

Appearing on The Boardroom podcast with Rich Kleiman, Rivers said he felt Durant would sign with the Knicks after his three-year run with the Golden State Warriors to become “the king of New York City.”

“Early on, I was like, ok, Rich is from New York, [Durant] can be the King of New York City, I got a feeling KD is going to the Knicks,” Rivers said on The Boardroom podcast.

“Listen, I’m in the league and I actually thought that so you know everybody else thought it as well.”

Durant and Kyrie Irving were heavily linked to the Knicks all last season. However, neither superstar took a meeting with the Knicks. Both guys signed with the other team in New York, the Brooklyn Nets, who made the playoffs in 2018-19 and have a better core and infrastructure than the Knicks.

Durant, Irving and DeAndre Jordan signed four-year deals with the Nets. Brooklyn will likely be title contenders in 2020-21. The Knicks, meanwhile, have a long way to go before they can call themselves a winning franchise again. Leon Rose and Tom Thibodeau are the latest president-coach duo who are trying to turn the organization around.

Kevin Durant has career NBA averages of 27.0 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 849 games with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Warriors. Nets fans certainly can't wait to see the two-time Finals MVP scoring buckets in a Brooklyn uniform.