It was Kevin Durant’s commerce request that formally ended the Nets’ window of competition two years in the past. Durant has watched their delayed rebuild from afar and insists it’s on course.
Brooklyn took a 108-84 loss to Durant’s Suns earlier than 17,077 at Barclays Heart — the place he, Kyrie Irving and James Harden as soon as fashioned a potent however ill-fated Massive 3.
Durant requested out on the 2023 commerce deadline, the final star out the door.
He returned with the Suns on Wednesday, recording 24 factors and eight rebounds together with offering well-wishes and confidence that the Nets’ newest rebuild will bear fruit.
Brooklyn followers can solely hope, after watching their staff fall to 14-31.
Nic Claxton was the one full-time starter accessible — with Cam Johnson, Cam Thomas, D’Angelo Russell and Ben Simmons all damage.
“Definitely, I want to see this franchise do well,” Durant mentioned beforehand. “What’s it, 12 or 13 picks that they’ve obtained? Belongings, that’s a very powerful factor with a rebuilding group is the property. The product on the ground, it could be inconsistent some video games. They beat us early within the season and regarded nice, and then you definately lose to the Clippers by 40 or 50 and that may not look nice.
“But when you look at the big picture, you’ve got young guys that are getting experience and playing time. You’re building assets and getting future picks. And hopefully you can draft well, put the team together well. So I think they’re walking in the right direction. I think the fans definitely want to see some great basketball on the floor, and I think it’s coming for this team.”
The Nets high the NBA in each wage cap area this summer time (an estimated $65 million) and future first-round picks (15, 4 of them this June).
Most of that draft haul is both instantly or not directly from the Durant commerce — eight unprotected firsts, one other evenly protected first and a swap.
Durant famously spurned the Knicks to come back to Brooklyn as a bundle take care of Irving in 2019.
They recruited Harden to type a Massive 3 then misplaced within the 2021 second spherical when each Harden and Irving obtained damage.
Irving missed two-thirds of the subsequent season for refusing to stick to the town’s COVID vaccine mandates, and Harden demanded a transfer on the commerce deadline.
After Irving did the identical on the subsequent 12 months’s deadline, Durant lastly requested out.
The Massive 3 was over after simply 16 appearances collectively, undone by a bunch of things.
“Injuries, COVID, us just not getting on the court,” Durant mentioned. “These two have been the largest components. Folks would say our attitudes, three guys’ personalities didn’t mesh effectively. [There were] a variety of narratives going round about every particular person participant — me, James and Kyrie — about our mentality as males. However as soon as we obtained on the courtroom and as soon as we truly performed collectively, when you noticed the tradition we have been constructing, it was one thing the followers might get behind.
“That first year when James got here halfway through the season was some of the most incredible basketball that I’ve seen, I played in. … The main thing was that we just didn’t get on the court together and a lot of injuries — injuries to me, James and Kyrie played a factor. Along with COVID — that whole thing just [caused] a lot of s–t.”
Claxton is among the few Nets nonetheless left from these groups, and he had a double-double Wednesday (10 factors, 12 boards).
Keon Johnson (20 factors) and Jalen Wilson (15 factors) have been amongst these aforementioned younger gamers.
However Brooklyn shot simply 37.4 p.c from the ground (34-for-91) and 19.4 p.c from deep (7-for-36).
Because the Suns — led by Devin Booker’s 32 — pursue Jimmy Butler, the Nets are positioning themselves within the lottery, in sixth place and a pair of ¹/₂ video games behind No. 2 Utah.
