The Brooklyn Nets championship window seems to have passed after three years with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on the squad. The first year saw KD and Irving spend most of the season injured while the second saw the pair fall to a brutal Game 7 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks after injuries to Irving and James Harden.
This season the Nets saw a dissatisfied Harden force his way to the Philadelphia 76ers for Ben Simmons, who is yet to make his Nets debut. The Nets were swept by the Celtics in the Playoffs and now have seen Irving have contract issues and Durant request a trade.
Irving was willing to play another season with Durant but KD requesting a trade means both players will have to be moved. This decision has been hugely unpopular in New York, as indicated by a headline in The New York Post after Durant’s trade decision was announced.
Kevin Durant on the back page of the New York Post. 😶
(via @nypostsports) pic.twitter.com/aTQWuc2BIa
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) July 1, 2022
Durant is going to face some incredible slander for his decision, but the wheels have completely fallen off the wagon in Brooklyn. After the standoff between Irving and the team over Irving’s extension, Durant is clearly not looking to see out the entirety of his current contract in Brooklyn.
The Nets have lost too many pieces and spending one more season with Kyrie yields no benefit if Kyrie is refusing to re-sign. It’s best that the team and the players move on as soon as they can, so none of them waste time trying to make an unworkable relationship work.
New York media is extremely harsh and KD being treated like this is no surprise. KD’s leaving OKC for Golden State is one of the most infamous decisions in league history and has affected his reputation. With what’s happening at the Nets, it seems like this is going to be a theme that will haunt his legacy forever.
