If there’s any doubt that the Brooklyn Nets are replacing the Manhattan Knicks as the city’s NBA team they were dispelled yesterday.
That after it was announced that the Nets signed Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan––creating the leagues latest superteam––but a championship could still be beyond their reach next season.
The historic signing of the three All-Stars was announced on Sunday shortly after the free agency period began, shocking the NBA world as the Brooklyn Nets have now become one of the league’s elite franchises.
The deals will not be official until July 6, when the free agency moratorium ends and players can signed on the dotted line. Durant is expected to ink a four-year, $164 million deal, after a sign-and-trade with where the Golden States Warriors acquire Nets All-Star point guard D’Angelo Russell who help make Brooklyn a prime destination for free agents.
Irving agreed to a four-year deal worth $141 million that begins at $32.7 million, while Jordan will sign a four-year $40 million.
For the Nets, Irving and Jordan are major acquisitions, but the real prize is the two-time NBA Finals MVP, Durant. Unfortunately for the Nets, Durant––who averaged 26 points, 6.4 boards and 6 assists a game last season––could miss most if not all of next season after suffering a ruptured Achilies during the NBA finals.
Irving who averaged 24 points and a career-high 7 assists a game, also comes with some baggage. The six-time All-Star has his own history with injuries only having played 70 or more games three times in eight seasons. Apart from the injuries Irving’s final season with the Boston Celtics was filled with discontent and turmoil, which left many to believe he was a cancer in the locker room.
Regardless, the balance of power in the league has shifted, and the Nets are expected to be one of the NBA’s favorites for the title during the 2020-21 season. Though there is still a chance Durant could be ready to play before the end of the 2019-20 with the Nets medical staff highly regarded as one of the best in the NBA.
Durant and Irving certainly bring star power to Brooklyn, but the culture has been set long before they arrived, and three core members of last seasons roster––Spencer Dinwiddie, Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen––are returning to round out a potentially dangerous team.
Particularly LeVert who started the 2019-20 season hot before suffering a dislocated floor in November.
LeVert missed most of the regular season, but in the postseason the third year forward carried Brooklyn through their first-round loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, averaging 21 points while shooting 49 percent from the floor.
The stars have arrived, but will Durant return to form as one of the league’s top 5 players? Is Irving going to seamlessly transition to the Nets culture? But more importantly will they, along with Jordan, deliver a championship to Brooklyn?
