The last three seasons Brooklyn Nets..
Kyrie Irving When Kevin Durant Joined the net in 2019 — and James Harden 2021 — With the idea that they are competing for the championship.
It’s not happening.
The net has two first round losses and a second round exit to indicate that.
Harden is no longer on the team.Durant Requested a transaction..and it is Irving is unlikely to play another game for NetsAnyone left to retreat the organization for five seasons and pick up the fragments left over from the implosion that exposes the system to problems could be modified by the NBA owners in the next collective bargaining agreement.
Irving and Durant Played only 57 games together Durant missed 2019-20 for three seasons, but recovered from an Achilles tendon rupture in the 2019 finals in the Golden State.
Irving played three seasons in just 46% of Brooklyn games for a variety of reasons, including personal reasons, injuries, and refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine. York City mission.
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Harden, which was acquired in January 2021, got tired of Nets a year later. Hoping he had more than a season left on his contract, he fulfilled his wish and went to Philadelphia for another player, Ben Simmons.
Last year’s off-season, Durant signed a four-year $ 194.2 million extension with Brooklyn, the first year of which extended from 2022 to 23. Therefore, he wants to get out before Durant plays one game with his extensions.
It’s easy to see why this bothers NBA owners.
Yes, the team has the ability to trade most players at any time. As NBA Commissioner Adam Silver pointed out at the All-Star Weekend in February, player empowerment has been around for some time.
“I think we’re dealing with a situation where there are players with literally unique skills on the planet. It always gives them leverage and you have a leveraged team,” Silver said. “There may be tools that could be considered to create stronger incentives for players to comply with these agreements, but I don’t think there is a silver bullet here to participate in collective bargaining. Fixed this issue. These are humans. “
Silver walks a thin line here. He is a player commissioner and his relationship with the player helps improve the game. He listens to their opinions. But he also works for the owner, a competitive group of individuals trying to win the championship.
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“As commissioners of this league, we want our players to be happy,” he said. “We want them to find themselves in situations where they think they are the most productive. At the same time, we want to run an orderly league, so like much of life, it’s appropriate there. You have to find a balance. “
The owner may want to get the money back before the player signs the contract, suggesting that the transaction request will be respected. However, no one knows if the owner can establish sufficient disciplinary deterrence against a player who has signed a $ 200 million transaction.
Joe Tsai, the owner of Nets, understands the ever-changing nature of the league and where players want to play. But when Durant signed the extension, there was a reasonable expectation that he would play at least one season of trading, even in an era of enhanced player empowerment.
(The net is not without responsibility. The net has enabled irving, followed a quick path to success, and it has consequences).
Collateral damage will last for a long time. Brooklyn escaped from Kenny Atkinson’s solid coach, who was rebuilding Brooklyn before Irving and Durant decided they wanted a new coach. Steve Nash, Atkinson’s successor, made his first foray into coaching that was hampered in two seasons.
Nets exchanges first round draft topics to create the Big 3 of Durant, Irving and Harden. Currently, there are no first round picks in 2024 and 2026, abandoning the most favorable ones. 2023, 2025, and 2027 draft selection in pick swap.
Of course, if that works, they will regain the first round of picks in the Durant and Irving deal.
But it brings the net back to the place around 2017 where they had young players and were trying to build through drafts, veterans who provided the signatures and instructions of savvy free agents.
Brooklyn’s general manager Sean Marks took office in 2016, and six and a half years later, he’s starting over.
The net can’t ruin it again.
Follow Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter @JeffZillgitt..
This article was originally published in USA TODAY: Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving’s Nets Explode
