Posted on June 30, 2019, by Travis Pulver
Had you bet on the Brooklyn Nets to spend the most money in free agency, then it sounds like your bet is going to pay off. Nothing is set in stone yet, but if the rumor mill is to be believed it sounds like the Nets are going to sign Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and DeAndre Jordan.
Durant’s deal is expected to be for four years and $164 million while Irving will make $142 million over the next four.
Rumors had the two friends heading to the New York Knicks for months. However, the Knicks became less interested in Irving after Durant’s injury and questions over his plans arose. There was also said to be some concern over how Irving could impact the chemistry of the team (because of all the drama in Boston this past season).
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But the Knicks’ loss appears as if it is going to be Brooklyn’s gain.
However, the hard part that fans are going to have to swallow is that the team will not be anything special next season. Yes, they were a playoff team last year and should be a better team this coming season. But without Durant in the lineup, the Nets are not going to be good enough to contend just yet.
While their odds to win the championship may improve slightly for this coming season simply because the roster is better. But some books have already said they don’t see any reason to move the Nets odds with Durant out for the season.
With the money they are spending on him, they would probably prefer he stay out the entire year and not even try to play until the 2020-21 season. They would certainly hate to see him come back early as he did during the NBA Finals and go down with another injury.
This just means that it will be Irving’s team for the next year.
There had been talk that the Warriors might try to do a sign and trade deal with Durant. It was rumored that they were going to offer him a five-year, $221 million deal. But either the rumor wasn’t true, or he just didn’t care to help the Warriors out as he left town.
As for Irving, after creating a drama last year over whether he planned on leaving Boston in free agency this year, he told fans he planned on staying. But while he had a statistically good season, the chemistry with the Celtics was not good last season. Irving was said to be a large part of the reason why.
So, while fans were not too happy at the notion of him leaving town last year, this year—they aren’t too concerned about it. It helps that they got a pretty good replacement in Kemba Walker.
Of course, this likely means that D’Angelo Russell is going elsewhere. Rumors have had many teams interested in acquiring his services including the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers, and Philadelphia 76ers.