Kevin Durant Trade Request Signals End of Failed Decade in Brooklyn
In today’s edition of the Front Office Sports newsletter, we’re taking a look at one NBA team’s ineffective roster strategy.
Superteam No More
On July 12, 2013, the Brooklyn Nets acquired, among others, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce from the Celtics in a trade for four first-round draft picks.
The Celtics used those picks to bring in Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and, most ironically, Kyrie Irving via trade. The former two led Boston to the NBA Finals this season.
Meanwhile, nine years later, the Nets have yet to play in an Eastern Conference Final — and haven’t learned from their fateful mistake.
On Thursday, Kevin Durant requested a trade out of Brooklyn — the culmination of two seasons of frustration for the 2014 NBA MVP. Phoenix and Miami are at the top of Durant’s destination wish list, per Adrian Wojnarowski.
Any team looking to bring Durant in, however, will have to be willing and able to take on the final four years of his massive $48.6 million AAV contract. Those years — as well as the promise of his supreme talent — could fetch one of the largest trade hauls in league history.
When GM Sean Marks was hired in 2016, he told former owner Mikhail Prokhorov that a “quick fix” would not be the way to get this franchise back to winning. Prokhorov conceded to Marks’ judgment.
In that time, Brooklyn obtained a bevy of young talent — but under new owner Joseph Tsai, who took over in 2019, the franchise's refusal to be patient and develop its youth is still the culprit for its struggles.
All of those players played postseason basketball this year.
The circus at Barclays Center is further accentuated by the fact that the Nets had the second-highest team cap hit ($172.8M) in the league this season, while the Warriors — who had the highest ($184M) — just won an NBA title.
Of course, much of the blame can and should fall on head coach Steve Nash, who wasn’t able to get the most of his superstar talents. But when his depth includes the likes of fading, ineffective veterans Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond, it’s easier to sympathize with him.
Now, Brooklyn’s superteam is just Irving, who was the source of many of the team’s issues on and off the court — while teams that have developed homegrown talent are vying for titles.
Conversation Starters
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Experience Customer Service and Sales, Quality Assurance and High Level Escalation Specialist, and Freelance photographer
2 年Hiring Steve Nash was a terrible idea seeing that Mark Jackson is available. Look what Mark Jackson did for the Warriors before he got the boot. Grated he never got them as far as Steve Kerr but he did a pretty good job there.
Risk Management and Insurance Advisor | The Peterman Group
2 年Ben Simmons
Customer Solutions | Digital Marketing | eCommerce
2 年What went wrong? The need for instant gratification. Combine that with: 1. Getting swept in the 2nd round. 2. Watching the team that swept you get to the finals 3. Then watching that team lose to your former team. All of that can create the knee jerk reaction to find greener grass and a more reliable teammate than Kyrie.
Director of Growth & Strategy | Driving Outcomes with Digital Transformation
2 年Too many big egos on one team!
Helping others to live the dream!
2 年Clearly its not money and its not talent. So we must look elsewhere. Coaching? Player rotations and playing time? Team unity? How about has anyone asked the players what they think the issues are? I lean towards the team buy in. I strongly believe that all team players must buy in to the philosophy and teams direction. I personally think KD is one of the greatest overall players ever. Not just in his play but in how he works with others during the game. Just watch him when he is on the bench. He is still in the game and sharing with teammates. Looks like the long approach is all they have at this point, hard to dig out of the hole they find themselves in.