The Brooklyn Nets saga continues to get messier and messier. The franchise seemingly put all their eggs in the superstar basket when they built around Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden. The trio never was able to stay on the court together and the conflicting personalities exploded. While James Harden found his way to Philadelphia in exchange for Ben Simmons it is clear that feelings have not fully settled.
One of the largest storylines of the NBA offseason has been Kevin Durant’s unhappiness and his desire to be traded. The former MVP reinforced this belief when meeting with Nets’ GM Joe Tsai today. However, Durant provided one way in which he believes his faith in the organization can be restored.
Sources: Kevin Durant informed Joe Tsai that he does not have faith in the Nets‘ direction. The meeting was described as transparent and professional, with a clear message: Keep me — or the GM and coach. https://t.co/W1voNf9MDC https://t.co/0lbBay2OxF
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 8, 2022
While Kevin Durant is one of the premier talents in both the current NBA and all-time, the Nets must not make this type of sacrifice. The theme of the offseason from Brooklyn has been avoiding giving so much power to the players and fully catering to Durant in this situation would directly contradict this. While the best-case scenario is still surely for KD to remain on the Nets, here are two reasons why giving the superstar his wish and making a blockbuster trade would be in both side’s best interest.
2 reasons Nets must trade Kevin Durant:
Start from Scratch
It is clear the tactic of team building the Nets have gone with in recent years has not worked. While the NBA is a star-driven league, you cannot only count on your stars. The Big Three era has ended as the teams that are winning titles are much more well-rounded. The model of roster building that has shown success in recent years is finding players to optimize your star rather than purely just the most talented players.
The Nets have played a great deal of isolation basketball in recent years where Durant and Kyrie Irving seemingly take turns attempting to get their baskets. While both players are some of the best at this across the entire NBA, this play style failed to develop the team culture that is necessary for success. It also has produced questionable (at best) results in the postseason.
Trading Kevin Durant would likely bring back one of the largest packages in NBA history. This would be a great place to begin rebuilding. It is important to note that the Nets have traded away or have agreed to a pick swap on all of their first-round picks until 2028. This is problematic when considering a full rebuild and changes their ability to fully start from scratch. However, finding a solid nucleus of young players to begin constructing a team around is absolutely a possibility. The Nets cannot enter a full rebuild but can reconstruct a roster based on what they get back. Brooklyn has rightfully kept a sky-high bar for what it would take to land the superstar, but even lowering this slightly could put the franchise in a better place moving forward.
Kyrie Irving Trade Piece
One of the forgotten pieces in the puzzle this offseason is Kyrie Irving. The Duke product has also had a turbulent tenure with the Nets franchise. Despite seemingly ready to take his talents elsewhere, Irving elected to opt into his player option and play next season with the Nets. While it certainly is not fully dependent on how the Kevin Durant situation plays out, it would seem to make sense that trading Durant would make the franchise more willing to trade Irving. Especially considering he is in his final season under contract with Brooklyn, the Nets have a great chance to use Irving as a key trade piece to complete their team.
It is unlikely that the Kevin Durant trade will provide the franchise with all the pieces they need to continue competing. However, using Kyrie Irving as a trade piece could help fill in the gaps in the roster in a major way. They may not have become the franchise cornerstones it was hoped, but Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are two of the best trade chips a franchise could have.
The Brooklyn Nets organization is certainly at a crossroads. While the ending of this era has been about as poor as the franchise could have hoped, they have a chance to right the ship by flipping the stars for better long-term pieces. The franchise must consider the possibility of Durant holding out and Irving leaving in free agency as further motivation. The bottom line is the Nets are not in a good place as a franchise and using their stars as trade pieces to begin a new era in Brooklyn may be in everyone’s best interest.
Follow Us
Subscribe