The underachievers, uninspired, increasingly nauseous Nets from Brooklyn reportedly set to appoint Ime Udoka as new head coach, which makes sense from a pure basketball perspective. (And yes, of course, Udoka brings his own baggage with his suspension by the Celtics for potential misconduct.)
The Nets have championship hopes and Udoka just took a team to the Finals in June. The Nets need a coach who commands the respect of the All-Stars, and Udoka has done that in Boston. The Nets need a coach who connects with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, and Udoka knows both, from a previous stint in Brooklyn. The Nets need someone to instill defensive courage; Udoka also ticks this box.
If there’s one coach who could steady the Nets’ ship and save the season, it might just be Udoka.
Which seems perfectly logical, except for one minor flaw: this thing is already finished. Do. Damn. There is nothing to save. An inspiring revival? Do not arrive. A championship ? Pure fantasy. All this experiment, all this time, was a failure…past-and any attempt to extend it is an act of deep self-delusion.
The Nets don’t need to waste any time getting stronger for next spring. They should do the opposite: start dismantling, immediately.
Trade Irving for anything you can get (or give him up, if all else fails). Cash in Durant for as many players and draft picks as you can squeeze out of it. Assess the market for Ben Simmonsas part of due diligence.
This is not hyperbole or reactionary thinking. It’s a basic acknowledgment of where this franchise really stands, after eight games, six losses, another coaching layoff and another conflagration from Kyrie. The Nets aren’t fixing anything this season, which means they won’t all be there next season.
Irving is a free agent in July. There is zero percent chance Nets re-sign him after recent detour through anti-Semitic sewers– and they probably weren’t going to, anyway.
Durant – who joined the Nets on a package deal with close friend Irving – won’t want to stick around as a solo star or waste his twilight years on a mediocre team. That business request he made a few months ago? He will do it again, rightly so.
So at the latest, all this ends next spring. Whether the last crash and burn happens in the playoffs or play-in doesn’t matter. It happens. The Nets would be better served by conceding the point now and trading their stars before their value (and/or health) deteriorates further.
“I literally would now,” a Western Conference team executive said. “KD’s [trade] a return alone would give this team some kind of hope for the next few years.
Other team leaders who spoke to Sports Illustrated this week echoed that position.
“It’s just a bad vibe around this team,” an Eastern Conference executive said. “They just don’t seem to like each other.”
And though rival executives differed on how much the Nets could get for their stars, all agreed on the basic premise: a takedown is now their best option.
Start with Durant, who even at 34 produces at an elite level and could anchor a contender. The Nets were hesitant to trade him this summer, in part because they never received an offer they deemed worthwhile. They also demanded a skyrocketing comeback: a minimum of one All-Star, a young player with All-Star potential, three unprotected first-round picks, and multiple pick trades. Also of note: they never really wanted to trade it and priced it high as a result.
Rival executives also don’t think the Nets will get that kind of return now. But they could get, as the previously quoted Western Conference exec put it, “a Rudy Gobert-esque comeback, if not bigger,” referring to the All-Star center who was traded from Utah to Minnesota in July. In that deal, the Jazz received four first-round picks, one pick trade and five rotation-level players.
Durant, three years from Achilles surgery and with plenty of miles to go, is unlikely to be looking for another elite talent in return. As one talent evaluator put it, Durant is “still a top 15, but I don’t think he’s a top five anymore.” And any team that acquires him will want him to join their stars, not replace them, in the hopes of securing a title.
“I think realistically there will be a bunch of picks and a few OK players,” the Western Conference first-timer said.
And those choices will likely be protected by the lottery. But the Nets front office under Sean Marks has already found some hidden gems in the draft, including Caris LeVert (20th in 2016), Jarrett Allen (22nd in 17) and Nic Claxton (31st in 19). “They have a smart front office; they can start over,” the executive said.
The Raptors will be contenders again, though the Nets should probably settle for a set of picks and an assortment of AND Anunoby, Fred Van Vleet and or Gary Trent Jr.. No one believes Toronto will drop All-Star pascal i’m sorry or rising star Scottie Barnes.
The suns could come back to call, offer Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson, plus the complete boat of choices and exchanges. Or, if the Nets are willing to wait, they could ask for bridges and Deandre Aytonwhich is not eligible to trade until January 15th.
The Heat could surely call again, while Tyler Herro and chooses as a starting point. No one in the league believes Miami will split Bam Adebayo, whose inclusion in a deal would be complicated by obscure salary cap rules anyway. (The Nets should offload Simmons first.)
Soaring Pelicansarmed with multiple stars and a goldmine of Lakers draft pick, could make a solid offer, though rivals don’t believe they’d include Sion Williamson or their other two stars, Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum. One executive suggested a Bulls offer, based on DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso and pickaxes.
And then there’s this bold thought from an Eastern Conference executive: Offer Durant to the Rocketsto buy out some of the Nets’ first-round picks, who were sent to Houston in the James Harden trade two seasons ago.
“Then you tank and go up in the [Victor Wembanyama] draws,” the executive said, referring to the dazzling French prospect who is a lock to be drafted No. 1 in June. The executive added, “If Houston had KD, it would be a playoff team.”
It’s time for the Nets to move in a different direction amid the Kyrie Irving saga.
Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports
Irving’s business is much more complicated, of course, due to a long history of controversy and chaos…of his declarations on the flat Earth at his vaccine refusal to his recent promotion of an anti-Semitic film, in addition to alienating teammates and coaches with three different teams. But he’s still in his prime at 30, still immensely talented and playing on a one-year deal that minimizes any risk.
The Lakers, who pursued Irving over the summer, remain the most likely — and possibly the only — suitor, according to rival executives. Any agreement would probably involve Russell Westbrook and one of the Lakers’ future first-round picks.
“I think they always would,” a second Western Conference executive said of the Lakers, though he also wondered if, given recent events, the Lakers might ask the Lakers instead. Nets a pick to face Irving. Or, as another team executive suggested, maybe the teams just trade Westbrook and Irving, with no picks going either way.
Several executives believe Irving will end up with the Lakers next summer, no matter what happens now. But beyond the Lakers, “There are no Kyrie takers,” the Western Conference second manager said. “Its commercial market is probably non-existent.”
The Western Conference chief executive put it more bluntly: “I wouldn’t trade our 15th man for [Irving]. This guy is as poisonous as it gets. I don’t care how good he is.
But if Brooklyn can get anything for Irving now, even nominal players or second-round picks, that’s a net plus, because he’ll almost certainly leave for nothing in July. Given all of his baggage, even giving it up altogether could be considered addition by subtraction.
“If you can get two young guys with a pulse for Kyrie, you gotta do it,” the Western Conference first-timer said.
Then there’s Simmons, whose market value has never been lower. An All-NBA selection just two years ago, Simmons now looks ordinary – hesitant, listless and utterly ineffectual. Whether it’s the back issues he’s had, the mental health issues he’s faced, the rust of missing a full season, adjusting to playing with Durant and Irving, or all of the above is unclear. But rival executives say the Nets wouldn’t get much for the 26-year-old if they traded him now.
“He has become a complete non-attacking player,” said an assistant general manager. “He’s not even close to the player we once saw.”
Some of the more analysis-oriented teams — for example, the Thunder or the Spurs — might look to buy low on Simmons and try to rehabilitate his game, the assistant general manager said. But the most the Nets would likely get in return are rotational players and a lottery-protected pick, making any deal unlikely.
“You don’t get anything of real value for him,” the assistant general manager said.
The Nets, rival executives agreed, would be better off keeping Simmons and surrounding him with shooters, hoping to rekindle the drive and play that made him the No. 1 pick in 2016 and a three-time All- Star.
The Nets can’t go the tanking route, since the Rockets control all of their first-round picks through 2027. But a revitalized Simmons, flanked by quality players acquired via Durant and Irving trades, could keep them respectable -” a fun, scrappy team,” the first Western Conference executive said. “Keep it, get the other two guys out of there, and all of a sudden there might be a semblance of something.”
Is there any risk in blowing it all up now? Absolutely. Without their two stars, the Nets could indeed drop to the bottom of the standings and, with an unlucky bounce off the ping-pong balls, end up delivering Wembanyama to the Rockets, an extra dose of humiliation. But that choice is gone, a sunk cost. And the Nets, even with Durant and Irving, are already on track for a disastrous season and a settling of scores next summer.
No one can blame the Nets for going all-in three years ago, attributing their fate to two transcendent talents, dreaming of glory, banner raisings and parades on Flatbush. It was an alluring sight, a worthy bet. But it’s become a nightmare, and the only known cure is to wake up.
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