The Brooklyn Nets season ended unusually Sunday night in a first-round tie at the hands of NBA defending champions Toronto Raptors. In other circumstances, this could be disappointing as a disappointment. Instead, Brooklyn’s death was hit with a collective shoulder because the team was terribly short-handed.
And it always went over anyway.
The most critical members of the future of this franchise did not even make the trip to Orlando, Florida. Kevin Durant missed the entire 2019-20 recovery from an Achilles tendon injury he sustained in last year’s NBA Finals. His new trusted sidekick, Kyrie Irving, recorded 20 games, made some pointed suggestions about the future of the roster (more on that later) and then missed the rest of the season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder. DeAndre Jordan, the third speaker of their union (released on a luxury cruise liner that docked in Rio de Janeiro at the 2016 Olympics) refused to sign the COVID-19 contract.
Spencer Dinwiddie, who portrayed the success of the carefully crafted culture that so generously constructed both general manager Sean Marks and former coach Kenny Atkinson, also contracted COVID-19 and had to pass. Wilson Chandler, who scored meaningful minutes for the Nets on the defensive side of the ball, refused to play in Orlando for “family and health reasons.” Sharpshooter Joe Harris recently left the bubble for a family affair.
This was obviously not the desired blueprint. Marks would certainly prefer to have a longer look at a collection of players who (if perhaps not) will form the core of the team going forward. In particular, it would have been helpful for Irving to have an extended run with some of the younger players, such as Dinwiddie, Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert to see what fit and what did not. Marks will have a multitude of decisions to make in the weeks and months ahead to make the finish line on a team that has plans to win in the Eastern Conference – and beyond.
Here’s what we know for sure: There will be no collective shoulder rights if the Nets are eliminated early next season. A hurtful and involuntary footlight will be squarely central to Durant and Irving, and their every movement and every utterance chronic. Make no mistake, KD and Kyrie are on the clock. The success as the failure of this franchise, which lies stiffly on a championship-as-breaststroke path, will fall squarely on its shoulders.
None of the players has responded well to intense control in the past. The first order of business is for them to develop some callouses. When the Nets were just a bunch of sloppy overachievers, no one controlled their day-to-day maneuvers. Like Marks & Co. have discovered, this is no longer the case. In January, Irving made waves when he declared that the team did not need the full complement of talent to win it all. “It’s very touching that we need one more piece, two more pieces that will complement me, KD, DJ [Jordan], GT [Garrett Temple]”Spencer, Caris, and we’ll see how that develops,” Irving said at the time.
His departure from Allen, Harris and Taurean Prince immediately raised eyebrows. Was it just a surveillance as a point message to the front office? Speculation ran rampant.
Harris, another successful Atkinson recovery project and the most trusted 3-point threat (a .426 career 3-point percentage) is a free agent. Marks has already announced that Harris is “No. 1 priority.” While the Nets have allocated $ 136 million to the cap for 2020-21, team owner Joe Tsai is on record and says he is willing to pay the luxury tax in pursuit of a championship. Harris, who was on the books this season for a purchase price of $ 7.6 million, could well be in a position to double his salary.
Will the Nets pat and bank on LeVert as Dinwiddie thrives in a legitimate third star alongside Durant and Irving? Or will they grab some of their young talent (with LeVert as the centerpiece) and go in search of a bigger, more upright and more expensive fish? Brooklyn has already been linked with Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal, who, when asked about this reporter in May, said he would prefer to “win” with the Wizards, but admits that the appointed interest of the Nets was a sign of respect. “When you hear that Kyrie and KD want you, s —, that’s great,” Beal said.
Stars, not shy overachievers, win championships. The underdog culture that Marks and Atkinson created is officially moot. That’s why the Nets willingly added 31-year-old Jordan to the mix on Durant and Irving’s management. It was a package without deals that the organization thinks the Nets can win it all.
It’s no more breaking news when basketball superstars ask for input (and are assigned) in decisions made by their front office; that is today’s NBA, where empowerment of players rules. When Atkinson and the Nets parted ways 62 games during the season, several reports suggested that Durant and Irving had a hand in the end of Atkinson’s tenure. For one thing, the team’s sources said, it allowed her that Atkinson brought her “brother” Jordan off the bench, and he beat 21-year-old Allen in his early five.
Not coincidentally, he elevated Jordan in the first game of Jacque Vaughn’s first game Jordan in the starting lineup in Allen’s place. Vaughn has earned the respect of both the players and Marks, and he will be considered for the steady job. However, league sources said, Durant and Irving are interested in a “high-profile head coach”, with Tyronn Lue and Jason Kidd among the candidates linked to the opening.
You can be sure that both players will offer their opinion on who the next coach should be. Brands, who understand all too well how this works, will no doubt listen.
In the meantime, there are a few other thorny things you need to consider. First and foremost is the health of the sidelined superstars. A broken Achilles is a knee injury that takes time, both mentally and physically, to recover from. And there is no guarantee that Durant’s full mobility, agility and lift will return. He – and his team – need to be patient. Since Irving left the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017, he has undergone two knee surgeries and a shoulder operation on his shooting arm. In his nine NBA years, Irving has played an average of 58.6 games per season. In order for the Nets to meet their increased goals, both players must be on the floor. A lot.
Then there is the issue of chemistry. If the Nets stay with what they have, are there enough basketballs for Durant, Irving, Dinwiddie and LeVert, who are all thriving with the ball in their hands? It is, most would argue, a puzzle that many teams would love to solve. Yet, as we have seen countless times throughout NBA history, talent alone is not enough. Players have to pass – and sometimes even compromise.
What about LeVert, who averaged nearly 19 points and 4.5 assists this season, and Dinwiddie, who was considered an All-Star slot, is asked to step down from the bench next season ? How will that affect her psyche and that of the team?
The Brooklyn Nets have been waiting a basketball life for a chance to be in the conversation. KD and Kyrie have planted them there, and they even unveiled opt-outs in their contracts to prove their commitment.
But next season, chat will be cheap. Brooklyn and its top dogs will have to perform and produce. The glare of the footlights is unfair, and so will the critics, unless the no longer terrible, but suddenly favorite Nets do one simple thing: win.
.
