It seems like Kevin Durant's time in Brooklyn is coming to an abrupt end.
According to multiple reports, Durant has requested a trade from the Nets. Nets GM Sean Marks and Durant's business manager Rich Kleiman are now tasked with finding the two-time Finals MVP a new home.
Brooklyn Nets GM Sean Marks is working with Kevin Durant and his business manager Rich Kleiman on finding a trade for the franchise star, Kleiman tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2022
Early indications are that Durant's preferred destinations are the Suns or the Heat. Two teams that would seemingly be destined to win a championship or two with KD on the roster. Here's where I remind you that we felt the same way about the Nets.
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It's crazy to think that the peak of the KD-Kyrie-Harden trio will be the second round of the postseason. How did this happen? What went wrong?
Let's try and make sense of this messy Brooklyn situation.
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving sign with Nets
The writing was on the wall at the end of the 2019 season. Durant was tired or Durant was tired of the Warriors. Whatever the reason, the relationship had run its course. Three seasons that produced three straight Finals appearances and two titles would be a dream scenario for any franchise in the league. Instead, it turned into a power struggle between the Warriors' old guard of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Durant. It felt like the world never viewed Durant as a Warrior and Durant never felt like a Warrior.
A coast to coast move and KD's arrival in Brooklyn was supposed to change all of that.
Sitting out Year 1 while recovering from a torn Achilles, Durant watched as Irving played just 20 games. Somehow, the Nets still managed to make the playoffs before being swept by the Raptors.
That set the stage for Durant's ceremonious return.
KD's fresh start with his best friend riding shotgun surely meant Durant would cement his legacy as one of the greatest players of all-time.
The James Harden trade
The Durant and Irving duo alone were enough to make the Nets title favorites. Adding James Harden on top of that? Brooklyn's best party planners could start mapping out championship parades.
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Injuries limited Brooklyn's trio to just eight games together in the regular season. Then came the opening round tour de force against the Celtics with the Nets uncorking a scintillating offensive smackdown, signaling their arrival.
It wasn't meant to be. The injury bug hit Harden and Irving, leaving Durant to largely fend for himself against Giannis Antetokounmpo. He nearly pulled it off too, a toe on the line ultimately spelling doom for the Nets in Game 7 and sending them home in the second round.
The Nets started this season with nothing but a championship on their minds. They had added to the Durant, Harden, and Kyrie core with Patty Mills and the returning LaMarcus Aldridge. They likely felt that had they been healthy they would've been starting the season hanging a championship banner instead of the Bucks. All signs pointed to the Nets being the team to beat. Vegas thought so too, giving Brooklyn the shortest odds to win the title at +230.
And then it happened.
Kyrie Irving at odds with COVID vaccination mandate
COVID-19 vaccination mandates in the city of New York threw a curve ball the Nets didn't see coming. It could've been a slight blimp on the road to a chip, it wasn't. It meant that Irving, one of the team's key players would have to sit out home games due to his refusal to be vaccinated. Irving decided to remain unvaccinated, the team decide to keep Irving off the roster, even for the road games he would be allowed to play in. It couldn't have been an easy pill to swallow for anyone in the organization. And maybe it was one too tough for Harden to swallow.
MORE: Kyrie Irving to the Lakers? How Kevin Durant's trade request impacts Nets star
It's not crazy to think that Harden — who sacrificed further damage to his hamstring in the second round of the playoffs — couldn't get on board with Irving's decision against the vaccine. Or the team's decision to continue to play without him in the games he, in theory, could've played in. Maybe the team could've handled the situation better, maybe Irving could have too.
Either way, Harden was fed up with the situation and wanted out. He'll never say, but maybe, he thought to himself he made a sacrifice to be here and no one else is willing to make the same sacrifices to get to where they wanted to be. Harden got his wish and was shipped to Philadelphia.
James Harden for Ben Simmons trade
The Harden trade came at a time the Nets needed something positive. By this time, the team had gone back on their original decision to play without Irving, allowing him to appear in eligible road games. But Irving's part-time appearances weren't enough to dig the Nets out of the hole they had dug themselves. The team was 29-26, and fighting to stay out of a Play-In spot. Durant was out with an MCL injury and his return was unknown. So the Harden return package headlined by Ben Simmons was supposed to help pull the nose up on the championship flight. It didn't, Simmons still hasn't suited up for the Nets, and after a Durant trade request — who knows if he ever will.
We should've seen the writing on the wall when the team could never really get themselves out of the Play-In tournament.
Even when Durant came back into the lineup.
Even when New York lifted the vaccination requirements allowing Irving to play at home again.
Even when Seth Curry and Andre Drummond gave the Nets more depth than they previously had after the Harden trade.
But, we didn't. The Celtics swept the Nets in the first round of the playoff en route to the Finals and we're still trying to figure out how it happened.
Kyrie Irving's contract extension
After the Nets went out without a fight in the playoffs, all eyes were on Irving. Irving made it clear, he wanted a max deal. The Nets made it clear, they weren't willing to give it to him. A game of chicken played out in the background of the playoffs and into the Finals. Days before free agency it came to a head. Irving was out, then he was back in again at the last minute — citing a desire to honor his commitment to Durant. It felt like it was all over, the drama — the chaos that had been surrounding the Nets all season on the eve of free agency, but it wasn't.
Durant is apparently no longer willing to honor the commitment he gave to the Nets. The four-year $194 million commitment he signed less than 12 months ago.
And now we're left to ask why.
What happens next for Durant, Irving and the Nets?
Did Durant make a mistake hitching his wagon to the unpredictable Kyrie Irving?
Did Durant think that he and Irving could control the Nets in the same way he's seen other NBA stars seemingly do with their franchises?
Did the Nets not do enough to keep him happy? It feels like they did right? After all, they got rid of Kenny Atkinson and brought in Steve Nash to coach the team apparently because Durant wanted it. They traded all their future assets to win now for Harden. They became an almost $300 million team after signing Patty Mills to help with roster depth. It feels like the Nets gave KD everything they could to keep him happy.
Were we too quick to anoint the Nets as favorites before really seeing them play at their peaks? Or maybe we were too quick to anoint Durant as one of the all-time greats?
The Nets will move on, Durant will too. And Durant will probably will a ring or two before his time is done in the NBA.
But his time in Brooklyn was supposed to be his chance to break out of the Warriors' shadow. Instead, it brought along a darker cloud on one of the most complicated legacies the game will ever see.
