What KD staying with Nets means for Warriors now, in future originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Drama between Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets is over. We think. For now, at least.
On Tuesday morning, the Nets released a statement on behalf of general manager Sean Marks that Marks, coach Steve Nash, owners Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai met with Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman met in Los Angeles on Monday and “have agreed to move forward with our partnership.”
No more trade requests, no more rumors. For now.
Durant’s standoff with Brooklyn’s front office, one that didn’t end how he apparently intended, has kept free agents and rosters in limbo, as well as how we view the NBA’s true contenders one month before training camp begins. The Warriors already should have been seen as both the best team in the Western Conference, and the league as a whole. That’s even more true now.
Through the rumor mill, Durant reportedly had suitors from a number of Western Conference teams. They just wouldn’t give up what the Nets hoped in any hypothetical trade. He’ll remain on the other side of the country, in a time zone three hours ahead.
The Phoenix Suns won’t have Durant. Neither will the Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Pelicans or any other Western Conference team. Nor will the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat or any other hopeful Eastern Conference contender.
He’s still a Net, and on perhaps his deepest and best roster yet since joining the franchise in the summer of 2019.
Brooklyn’s Big Three of Durant, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons should have a balanced diet of everything you’d want: Two elite scorers and offensive players overall, plus one defensive star and non-stop topics for “First Take.” In free agency, the Nets brought back center Nic Claxton and point guard Patty Mills on two-year contracts. They also added scoring threat T.J. Warren on a one-year prove-it deal, and acquired forward Royce O’Neal from the Utah Jazz.
All of that is on top of having sharpshooters in Seth Curry and Joe Harris, as well as strong depth pieces in Cam Thomas, Day’Ron Sharpe and Kessler Edwards.
None of that should even make the Nets the clear-cut favorites in the East yet. They have been the paper champions the moment Durant and Irving decided to team up together, and that hasn’t even propped them to the conference finals once. Until they prove this can all work, the Celtics, Heat and even the Milwaukee Bucks all have strong cases…