Nets implosion

ANOTHER offseason. Another failure. The Brooklyn Nets can’t seem to get a break as their resident superstar Kevin Durant, who asked to be traded last June 30, made another whiny demand to Nets owner Joe Tsai. If the Nets want Durant to stay, the team needs to fire general manager Sean Marks and coach Steve Nash.

Tsai apparently quickly sided with his leadership team by tweeting “Our front office and coaching staff have my support. We will make decisions in the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets.”

The Nets deserve to be mocked and laughed at since Marks was the one that hired Durant while Nash was the coach that KD wanted and endorsed.

This is what happens when you give up control of a business to a mercurial talent — talent like Durant who never seems to be happy, faults everyone else and has no loyalty whatsoever.

The team abandoned their rebuilding efforts in the 2019 offseason and went on the quick and easy route by acquiring Durant and Kyrie Irving. At that time, the Nets were already on a path to consistent playoff contention with D’Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie, Joe Harris, Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen. Only Harris remains.

The following year, the Nets traded for superstar James Harden to form their big three, but injuries and Irving’s vaccination status meant that the trio only played 16 games together. Harden was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Ben Simmons before the All-Star break.

Harden’s departure marked the beginning of the end of this experiment as Ben Simmons did not play a game for the Nets this season and the team eventually got shut out by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the 2022 playoffs.

With Durant’s demand, the Nets no longer have any leverage from trade partners. The Nets’ ask — one superstar, good role players and multiple first round draft picks. The asking price may be too high for a prima donna who is already 34 years old.

The problem is Durant holds all the cards. He just recently signed a four-year, $194-million extension and while most NBA players don’t get paid until the season starts, Durant’s contract allows him to receive half of his $42,969,845 salary in Year 1 in two installments before the first week of training camp is complete. That is a total of $21,484,922.

Durant can sit out training camp and the season without too much financial consequence, forcing the Nets to trade him without getting “fair” value. With his pronouncements and demands, Durant is asking the Nets to lower their asking price so both parties can move on.

Meanwhile, the Nets can play hard ball and opt not to trade Durant out of spite. The Nets don’t really need to trade Durant, but the latter can just sit on the bench. This would mean another lost year and another failure. Sadly, this has been a recurring theme for the Brooklyn Nets.