A few months ago, the New York Knicks looked like the favourites to land both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in free agency. 

It became clear on Sunday that wasn't going to happen when both players teamed up to join the Brooklyn Nets. 

And now this. 

According to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, the Knicks were not prepared to offer Durant a full max contract due to concerns over his recovery from an Achilles injury. 

Instead, the Knicks were in Los Angeles meeting with free agent forward Julius Randle on Sunday night. They later agreed to a three-year, $63 million deal with Randle according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. 

Durant, who is expected to miss all of next season, confirmed his signing in Brooklyn on Instagram shortly after the 6:00 p.m. ET negotiating window opened on Sunday night. 

Later Sunday, the Knicks issued the following statement from team president Steve Mills:

“While we understand that some Knicks fans could be disappointed with tonight’s news, we continue to be upbeat and confident in our plans to rebuild the Knicks to compete for championships in the future, through both the draft and targeted free agents."

The Knicks not only lost out on signing Durant/Irving, but centre DeAndre Jordan, too, who is also Brooklyn bound. 

The Knicks have not made the playoffs since 2013 and matched their worst record in franchise history last season at 17-65.