Three years ago the Brooklyn Nets went all in on the idea that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, two faces of the NBA's last decade of success in both Golden State and Cleveland, respectfully would come to New York City -- the other team in New York City -- and win an NBA Championship.
Everyone bought in, the media especially, who without any hesitation had the Nets pegged to rep the Eastern Conference in the Finals the past two seasons, and in each case the Nets came up snake eyes. With all the talent, and even late additions like James Harden, the Nets could only muster one playoff victory in three years.
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| Kevin Durant - Getty Images. |
One playoff victory!
Now it is all over after Durant decided to take a hibachi knife to the raft, pierced a giant hole in it and watched it sink to the bottom. On Thursday, Durant demanded that Brooklyn trade him out of town; preferably to either Miami or Phoenix. Hey, older people do love warmer weather year round?
All in all, it is fair to say, and time to say, that the Nets experiment with a "superteam" led by both Durant and Kyrie Irving has been a total failure.
Together both Irving and Durant played only 44 regular season games together in three years, one of which was whipped out by Durant missing the entire year as he recovered from an Achilles injury he suffered in 2019 NBA Finals with Golden State.
Add James Harden, whose star-crossed tenure ended in Brooklyn with his whining his way to Philadelphia in a trade that brought Ben Simmons and Seth Curry to the Nets, and the Nets attempt at the NBA title takes an even bigger hit.
The trio of Harden/Irving/Durant played only 18 games together! That's it!
Injuries, Irving's personal issues with getting vaccinated against COVID-19 notwithstanding, the Nets never, ever say the return on investment they had hoped for.
On top of that Irving too had expressed his desire to leave town. He gave the Nets a list of teams he wanted to play for that included the Lakers, Sixers, Knicks, Mavericks, and Clippers.
Only the Lakers showed interest.
In the end, Irving decided to 'opt-in' to his $36 million player option for 2022-23.
Still that doesn't preclude the Nets from trading him if they so chose. It just means Irving doesn't have a say on where he goes.Yet, here was GM Sean Marks handing out a four-year extension to Durant a few months ago that would pay him $195 million through 2026. The Nets wanted to believe that Durant wanted to be here, that at 33-years old, he still had something to prove in New York.
Instead, Durant did to Brooklyn what he did to Oklahoma City and Golden State, leave as soon has the opportunity comes.
The Nets, who didn't have a single draft pick in last month's draft, could recoup some major assets from someone, anyone who is willing to take Durant and his massive contract off their hands.
The Suns are Durant's preferred destination, but they just inked Devin Booker to a massive $224 million extension. Do they feel Durant is the missing piece they need to win the title? Who knows.
Either way the Nets must come away with draft capital and players who can contribute now. They would love to get a superstar in return, but let's be honest the rebuild is about to begin -- again -- in Brooklyn. It needs to. The Nets need to get the stench of Durant/Irving out of their building as soon as possible.
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