The Brooklyn Nets find themselves as a hot mess just 11 games into the 2022-23 NBA season. General manager Sean Marks and Co. have already fired head coach Steve Nash.
Star guard Kyrie Irving was suspended by the team for sharing a documentary with antisemitic views on social media. Brooklyn’s hand-picked option to replace Nash, Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka, might not end up coming to fruition due to his own off-court drama.
On the court, Ben Simmons has struggled to fit in. Brooklyn has won four of its first 11 games. Yeah, things have already spiraled out of control in the Big Apple.
Sam Amick of The Athletic just spoke with multiple unnamed NBA executives about the Nets’ current situation. In surprising fashion, some now believe that Brooklyn will tear this entire thing down and start anew after so many on-court failures over the past few seasons.
“Just looking at Sean and his history, where he’s come from and what he’s done in Brooklyn, and then knowing that you have these (high-caliber guys) in this draft, I don’t see how he doesn’t (tear it down),” unnamed NBA executive on the Brooklyn Nets. “Maybe it’s pressure from ownership, and they want to win, or whatever — who knows? But left to his own devices, I think it’d only be natural to expect that they move Durant.”
For his part, Kevin Durant had requested a trade early in the offseason. At that point, he gave Nets owner Joseph Tsai an ultimatum — either fire Nash and Marks or trade him. While KD ended up pulling said trade request, it stands to reason that the two-time NBA Finals MVP is fed up with the situation in Brooklyn.
“At what point is Durant gonna say, ‘F— it. Get me out of here’?” NBA executive on Durant.
The current situation is not sustainable in Brooklyn right now. There’s a decent chance that Irving has now played his final game as a member of the organization given the drama he’s brought to the table and the Nets’ push back against his recent off-court issues.
Unfortunately for Brooklyn, there’s no interest in Irving among other NBA teams. This means that the Nets might ultimately have to waive the All-Star guard while getting nothing in return. Durant’s situation is different.
Related: Ideal Kevin Durant landing spots from the Brooklyn Nets
Brooklyn Nets now likely to trade Kevin Durant
As we reported earlier in the month, other teams are now paying close attention to Durant’s situation. Many had shown interest in him this past summer. But the Nets’ asking price seemed to be too rich around the Association.
Now that Brooklyn is in a vastly different situation and is looking to blow this whole thing up. The dynamics change in a big way. That is to say, the Nets looking more to the future.
“If I’m the Nets, I’m looking to get a young star and a bunch of picks to retool the team. They’ve done it in the past already, and they can do it again,” NBA exec on Brooklyn Nets’ plans.
- Kevin Durant stats (2022-23): 31.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 4.7 APG, 52% shooting
As you can see, KD continues to play at an absolutely elite clip. While he’s 34 years old and in the first season of a four-year, $192.2 million contract, contending teams will have interest in the future Hall of Famer.
One NBA executive mentioned the New Orleans Pelicans as a potential landing spot. They are off to a 5-5 start to the season with Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram leading the charge. Perhaps, front office head David Griffin offers up a bounty of picks to land KD. At issue here is Brooklyn’s likely demand of Ingram in a trade. Right now, that likely wouldn’t be in the cards.
Related: Brooklyn Nets standing in Sportsnaut’s NBA power rankings
Durant was also linked to his former Golden State Warriors team during the summer. With the defending champs off to a ho-hum 4-7 start to the season, a change could be in the cards. However, that’s also complicated by the fact that Golden State finds itself in luxury tax hell and would have to part with one of its core four in order to bring Durant back.
There’s a lot of complexities here. What we do know is that the Brooklyn Nets are not going to fix things. That ship has sailed. It’s time to blow this thing up, including moving off Irving and trading Kevin Durant. At the very least, executives around the Association believe this will happen.