Knicks might sign Marcus Morris if he backs out of agreement with Spurs
Nets say they learned of his choice via Instagram
LAS VEGAS — Kenny Atkinson discovered, like everyone else, that Kevin Durant tore his Achilles in the late hours of a June night. His first reaction was to text GM Sean Marks.
“Jeez. This could change things,” Atkinson said. “Took a couple of deep breaths, obviously got more information, to make a decision easier.”
The Nets officially signed Durant this week to a four-year, $162 million deal, despite the potentially devastating injury Atkinson watched unfold on television.
Marks revealed his free-agent prize underwent a full evaluation with Nets doctors and trainers on Monday, but wasn’t ready to rule Durant out for the season. At least not yet.
“I think a timeline will be given in due time, but as of now, we’re certainly not going to comment on when or if and make any sort of hypotheticals,” Marks said. “It’s too early.”
The smart play for the Nets would be to declare Durant out for the season with an Achilles tear, and, if he returns at some point in the playoffs or prior, it can be chalked up to the player’s burning desire. The Warriors should’ve taken that route in the Finals and instead the narrative became they forced him to play too early. Most players can return to the court about nine months after Achilles surgery — meaning March for Durant — but teams are extra cautious with significant injuries to star players. The expectation is Durant sits out the season.
Marks said Durant committed to the Nets via Instagram post before speaking with the team, meaning the interest from both sides was sent through back channels. It’s a story that clears the Nets of tampering.
“The Instagram post that he put up, we were all sitting in the office,” Marks said. “We all got that in realtime with you guys. We weren’t even sure if we were getting a meeting that night or if it was going to be
a telephone conversation with him.”
So he agreed to sign without an offer?
“With those guys, they’re at a different level. They know … I’m not going to sit here and tell them, ‘Well, we’d like to discuss a contract with you.’ We know what we’re getting into,” Marks said.
Following the Instagram announcement, Durant arrived at the Nets training facility to consummate the partnership. It was the only meeting Durant took in free agency, spurning the Knicks after a two-year pursuit.
“I don’t know if it was that much of a pitch. It was more along the lines of — (coach Kenny Atkinson) talked about how he wants to use him and how he would play and the style of play and so forth, Marks said. “We both discussed the culture, we both discussed the makeup of the team and so forth. I think it was pretty evident in terms of his excitement and the look on his face and the expressions that he had come to a decision pretty quickly.”
The Nets have never been considered attractive to star free agents, and only six years ago completed a trade with the Celtics that many thought would hamstring them for a decade. But as they pushed culture, humility and an appealing playing style under Atkinson, a surprise playoff berth occurred and a free-agency haul took shape.
“It did surprise me. Obviously we improved a lot last year but it wasn’t a so-called star system,” Atkinson said. “It was a group of guys that play really well together. I think it gives more credit to the guys that are coming here that say I like that style of play, I like the way they play. I think they want to participate in something like that. Yeah, it surprises me just because we’ve come a long way in a short time. That’s the biggest surprise. I know Sean was strategizing and thinking big picture. I was kind of focused more on the day-to-day. It was a surprise they chose to participate in this type of system that we’re running.”