The offseason is here for the Brooklyn Nets. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving have been eliminated as the Nets got unceremoniously swept by Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics. Maybe it'll all feel a little better than it does now if the Celtics go on to the NBA Finals and we remember the Nets were missing one max-level starter in Ben Simmons and another key player in Joe Harris.
If it were reversed and the Nets were whole and the Celtics were missing, say, Marcus Smart and Al Horford, then perhaps everyone would be criticizing the Celtics' front office, roster build, coaching staff, and stars instead. The Nets have been under fire from everyone from national haters to local Knicks fans haters. It can feel a bit arbitrary at times, but here we are.
Many fans are wondering how much input KD and Kyrie (assuming he extends his contract) will have in terms of personnel moves during the offseason.
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After a tough loss, Durant was asked just that Monday night.
āOf course, I wanna know who I'm playing with out on the floor. I wanna know who we're thinking. Sean [Marks], and the front office, all of us, we just talk basketball regardless cause we enjoy basketball. Sometimes our team may come up and what we may need and what I see from a player's perspective,ā Durant said.
KD has certainly downplayed at times his own level of influence on Nets personnel moves. But it doesn't sound like he is here, following Game 4 loss:
"sometimes our team may come up and what we may need and what I see from a player's perspective." pic.twitter.com/vYDbbv1mp6
ā DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) April 27, 2022
Kyrie Irving spoke as well. After revealing his plans for his monster free agency still looming, Irving talked about wanting to build something in Brooklyn.
āI don't really plan on going anywhere,ā Irving said. āWhen I say I'm here with Kev [Durant], I think that it really entails us managing this franchise together alongside Joe [Tsai] and Sean [Marks]. ā¦ We're cornerstones here but we have Ben, we have a few other guys.ā
On the recent Nothing But Nets podcast, co-host Greg Dennis was willing to read into that āglaring omissionā that Irving mentioned the owner and GM but not head coach Steve Nash. KD has vouched his support for coach Nash, but Irving at least left us wondering how he feels.
So it does sound like both KD and Kyrie expect a bit of say in who they're playing with next season, though Durant also insists he doesn't go around making demands on personnel decisions.Ā Still, as the superstars, they will clearly have some input.
There are plenty of options here. Joe Harris will be healthy. Do they want to trade Joey Buckets or did they realize how much they missed his shooting presence over the course of the year?
They'll have an important decision ahead of June 1 on whether to take the Sixers' 23rd overall draft pick or defer that until next season. If James Harden left Philly or if either he or Joel Embiid got injured next year, that 2023 pick could see a spike in value at the same time some valuable starter became disgruntled. So maybe they'd like the optionality.
If they pick that up in June, though, will Durant weigh in on who they'd select? After all, it was reported he liked Cam Thomas a year ago. That doesn't look like a bad selection at all, and maybe KD has a real eye for talent.
What about Ben Simmons? Kyrie pushed back on reports the team was exasperated Simmons didn't try to play. Irving even went so far as to call Simmons aĀ āfranchise playerā and said there never was any pressure from him that the point forward needed to push through his mental health or herniated disc back issues. But will Simmons be ready to go for the Nets at the start of next year? Might he need more time to focus on mental health, or could he even be traded? How will Irving and Durant feel about all those burning questions?
What about the futures of Nic Claxton, Bruce Brown and Andre Drummond?
At this point, who knows?! What we do know is that KD and Kyrie sound like they very much want to be a part of the management process, and Nets fans should be happy about that. Unlike LeGM, there isn't much reason to worry that these guys are going to push all in for a Russell Westbrook-style disaster trade.
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