With so many superstar big names in free agency changing scenarios this offseason, it was hard to tell who will land where. With Kawhi leaving Toronto; Charlotte unable to resign Kemba Walker and Jimmy Butler going elsewhere, nothing was certain. But in the midst of all this, it seemed as if the Brooklyn Nets turned out to be the biggest winners of the 2019 NBA free agency. The Nets made the playoffs behind their star guard D’Angelo Russell but were eliminated in the first round itself. And after their short playoff stint, the Nets are looking to do more than rebuilding.
As seen in the past few weeks, Kyrie Irving had disgruntled relationships with the Boston front office burning some bridges so it was pretty clear Irving was not going to be playing for the Celtics anymore. He went as far as to say “I don’t owe anybody s**t”. Irving was looking for a new landing spot and Brooklyn turned out to be just the place. Irving could’ve taken the pay-cut and play alongside James and Davis with the Lakers but since Irving left Cleveland, it seemed as if he was off to create his own legacy so joining the Lakers certainly wasn’t going to happen. With Irving joining the Nets, it made sense for him to attract another star player to share the court with. And that is exactly what he did.
It was evident that Kevin Durant was not happy with the Warriors and after going down with an injury in the NBA finals and losing to the Toronto Raptors, it was easy to speculate that Durant won’t be coming back to play for Golden State. Kevin Durant had shown interest in multiple teams but the New York Knicks seemed no.1 at his list. Madison Square Garden or “The Big Apple’ if you will, has always been a star attraction and New York fans are always there to back you up. That place can get really loud and New York being a bigger team than some, it seemed like a good option for Durant. But this is where Kyrie Irving stepped in. Irving had met Durant twice this season and was able to convince him to cross the river and pair up with him in a Nets jersey. The Brooklyn Nets had enough cap space to sign both Irving and Durant but for that, they had to let go of their star guard D’Angelo Russell and a few other players to clear up some space. Letting go of Demarre Carroll’s $15 million and Alan Crabbe’s $19 million dollar contracts created enough breathing room for the Nets to sign both Irving and Durant.
Irving and Durant both have a history of losing their temper at times and one executive said he would not let Irving lead their team and the year-long squabbles Durant has had with Draymond don’t really shine the light well for these two players. However, both Irving and Durant were teammates for the USA national basketball team and would love to join forces to play together nonetheless. And just to entice things a little more, the Nets went as far as to sign Deandre Jordan who was acquired in trade to the Knicks from the Dallas Mavericks. Jordan too had played alongside Durant and Irving for the USA national basketball team. The Knicks were interested in re-signing Deandre Jordan but only if Kevin Durant came onto play for them otherwise offering Jordan a max-deal without much of a supporting cast was going to end in a bust.
The Nets were already in talks with Irving and Irving was able to entice Durant enough to play alongside him and with the Nets landing Irving and Durant, they did not hesitate to ramp up their roster with an experienced bigman who made ‘lob-city’ popular. Pairing Deandre with Irving could make the Nets the new lob-city and add Durant to the mix and there you have your new big three.
The best ball-handler in the league with a 4-time scoring champion and the main highlight from ‘lob-city’, the Nets are going to be a dominant force in the east. Expect a lot of hardcore alley-oops the next time Nets come around.
