This past season, The Brooklyn Nets shocked a lot of the NBA world by making the playoffs as a 6th season, finishing at 42-40. This was in large part because of D'Angelo Russell. Brooklyn ended up losing in the first round in 5 games to the Philadelphia 76ers but the Nets exceeded expectations. After the gruesome injury to Caris LeVert, who was well on his way to being an All-Star before the injury, Russell took off. The Nets did struggle right after injury. Their low point of the season was when they were sitting at 8-18, Nets fans everywhere were calling for the team to tank, including myself. But after that low point, Brooklyn took off. Over a span of 26 games the Nets went 20-6, positioning themselves well for the playoffs.
Russell was everything Nets' fans hoped Deron Williams would be. Russell showed his leadership on the court. He matured greatly since his Los Angeles Lakers days. He also posted career highs in every major category, 21.1/7.0/.434/.369. Also making the All-Star team for the first time in his career. Nets fans everywhere were sure they finally found their point guard of the future.
Russell is set to become a restricted free agent when free agency opens on June 30th at 6 PM ET and just a month ago it seemed certain Russell would be back in a Nets uniform next season. Not so fast, though. Brooklyn has been heavily linked to 6x All-Star and NBA Champion, Kyrie Irving. Early reports were that there was mutual interest between Irving and the Nets and they wouldn't shy away from pairing Irving with Russell. Throughout the past few weeks most thing on the Irving front have remained the same with a lot of reports basically stating Kyrie to Brooklyn is as done as it can get before free agency actually opens. But a report last week from Ian Begley had Nets fans worried. According to Begley, if the Nets landed Irving, Russell would unlikely be back and that caused a huge stir around Nets twitter and Nets fans everywhere.
It's well known around the league that Plan A for Brooklyn is pairing Irving and Kevin Durant, which would make Russell the casually in that situation. The Nets have been making moves the past few weeks to get to that second max slot. Trading Allen Crabbe, now extending a qualifying offer to Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and trading a first round pick in Thursday's draft which cleared another $1 million in cap. It's clear, the Nets are going big fish hunting and their goal is Irving and Durant.
A lot of Nets fans have mixed opinions on this. Especially after Durant tore his Achilles in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. But most fans are in agreement that the Nets shouldn't let Russell go for anybody but Durant or Kawhi Leonard. Personally, I disagree. Don't get me wrong, Russell was a huge part of the Nets' success this past season but I feel if you get the chance to land someone like Kyrie you go for it. A 6x All-Star, NBA champion. There aren't many players more talented than Irving in the league. Personally, I have him ranked as the 10th best in the league.
People worry about how Kyrie might effect the team chemistry and I get that concern, I had the same concern but I also started to think; this is the first time Kyrie has been able to choose his own team. He also never seemed he liked being in Boston. I feel when he comes to Brooklyn, he will buy into this team culture that has been being built since 2016. Kyrie is also in his prime and clearly is better Russell. Irving also attracts other stars and players, I don't believe Russell has that dynamic quite yet. I would love Russell back on the Nets and I myself am not against pairing the two together but it seems the Nets are and if we're choosing between the two, I'm taking Kyrie. I feel Kyrie gives the Nets the best chance to win and to actually contend in the East.
I love the idea of the Nets landing Irving and Durant. But then again, who doesn't? That gives you one of the best duos in the NBA. I know there are concerns about how good Durant can be coming back from his Achilles injury but I'm not too worried. I take the risk on it because it's Kevin Durant. Even if he's 80% of what he was, that's still a top 10 player in this league. And in 2020/21, that's a legit title contender in the Eastern Conference and I trust Sean Marks' ability to build a good bench around those two.
I have been on the record myself as saying I don't agree with letting Russell go for anyone other than Durant or Leonard and to an extent I agree with that but as of now, I'm team Kyrie and if Kyrie tells you he's in, you don't say no even if that means Russell is the casualty. Many fans grew way too attached to the name on the back of the jersey and not the name on the front and taking this next step isn't "skipping steps" which is how many fans see it. This started in 2016 when Marks was hired. They started a full rebuild and in 3 seasons they continued to improve until making the playoffs this past season. Which, in my opinion, especially with 2 max spots available, has given the Nets the best opportunity to seize the moment by chasing star free agents. The move was always to free up cap space for this summer. That what the Timofey Mozgov trade was about.
It will be a fun off-season, regardless. It's a great time to be a Nets fan, regardless of what happens in free agency. The worst case scenario is bringing back Russell and adding someone like Tobias Harris. That isn't that bad of a worst case scenario. And we all know best case scenario is Irving with Durant or Leonard. It's been a long time coming for Nets fan to be in the running for star free agents, much less frontrunners. It'll be fun to see how these next two weeks play out.
No comments:
Post a Comment