For anyone gullible enough to believe it, the Nets released a statement to say Durand and his agent Rich Kleiman and Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks, coach Steve Nash and team owners Jo and Clara Wu Tsai met up and had a happy old time.
All past problems, including Durant’s request for a trade, have been swept away in a sea of what smells like team spirit but is in reality a long way from basketball nirvana.
“Steve Nash and I, together with (Nets co-owners) Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai, met with Kevin Durant and (his manager) Rich Kleiman in Los Angeles yesterday,” Nets General Manager Sean Marks said in a statement on Tuesday.
“We have agreed to move forward with our partnership. We are focusing on basketball, with one collective goal in mind: build a lasting franchise to bring a championship to Brooklyn.”
Phew. Them plucky old Nets can now get the band back together and start making wonderful music again at the Barclays Center.
If only it were that easy.
Marks and Nash are the same two people that Durant recently told the owners that he wanted them fired. And now they’re going to pitch in together to make this thing work? Please.
Durant will be moping in no time flat when the season rolls around and his unreliable cohorts Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons are his main allies.
Kevin Durant. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Of course there have been many instances of stars demanding trades and then falling in line with the franchise to achieve great success, most notably Magic Johnson, Scottie Pippen and Kobe Bryant.
But they were in stable franchises that was in the midst of a golden era – this Nets team has done nothing but disappoint throughout its entire existence, never falling more short of expectations the past couple of years with Durant, Irving and, briefly, James Harden playing individual ball in a team sport.
Simmons should be nervous.
Patty Mills and Kevin Durant. (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images)
Irving is KD’s guy – through the many bewildering Kyrie moments of the past few years, Durant has had his back. After all, they teamed up to go to Brooklyn after exiting Golden State and Boston respectively.
Even if Durant can get in synch with Nash and Marks again, that will mean he will want instant success this season.
Durant is 34 next month and has precious few seasons left to compete for a championship, the one that he craves to prove he can do it without joining an All-Star cast like the two he won with the Warriors.
He’s entitled to feel hard done by on that front – he was finals MVP both times Golden State won the championship yet he is accused of jumping on the back of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. The reverse is, was and should forever be true.
If the Nets struggle out of the blocks this season and Durant starts up again with his passive-aggressive routine, the team will look to trade Irving or Simmons – two former No.1 draft picks born in Melbourne.
And their first option won’t be the player who has already won a championship who’s close with KD, it’ll be the one who did not play all last season even after getting his wish to be traded out of Philadelphia.
(Photo by James Devaney/Getty Images)
If you need further proof on how far Simmons is out of the KD loop, just hours before news broke of the 12-time All-Star’s trade request, the former Sixer posted a picture of himself on Instagram, snarling with the caption “feeling incredible”. Poor timing.
Simmons is reportedly still not back in top shape due to the lingering back problem which prevented him from suiting up with Brooklyn even though he threatened to do so during the first-round finals exit at the hands of the Celtics. That was four months ago, by the way.
His only hope of staying in Brooklyn and building a long-term future at the franchise is to get back in peak condition, be ready for opening night on October 20 and be the complementary player to Durant and Irving that the Nets need him to be.
On paper, the combination of Durant and Irving’s offensive firepower alongside Simmons’ playmaking and elite versatility on defence should be a formula for success.
Kyrie Irving (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
But, in reality, even if those three work together and the supporting cast of Patty Mills, Seth Curry, Nic Claxton, Joe Harris, TJ Warren and Royce O’Neale clicks, the Nets are still probably the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Boston and Milwaukee deserve to be considered the favourites in the East while Miami and Philadelphia have the roster and continuity from last season to be rated better chances than Brooklyn.
The remaining loyal Simmons fans out there shouldn’t go buying any “Ben 10” Brooklyn uniforms just yet.
This whole situation has got looming disaster written all over it which not even the craftiest of social media statements can camouflage.
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