Nets’ transformation is almost complete
NEW YORK — First it was Kevin Durant, who signed a four-year contract extension that keeps him in Brooklyn through 2026. Next, it’s Kyrie Irving and James Harden, who Nets general manager Sean Marks is hoping will follow Durant’s lead.
Speaking to reporters after the first week of free agency, Marks said the Nets are having contract extension conversations with the remaining two of Brooklyn’s Big 3 “right now.”
“I feel very confident that on the first day of training camp, we’ll be looking at those three in particular being signed, sealed, delivered and being a part of the Brooklyn Nets for a long time to come,” he said.
“It’s comforting to know that a guy of that caliber (Durant) is locked in, and those guys in general when that happens,” Blake Griffin said Thursday. “KD’s kind of like that piece that brought everything together, and then Kai coming here and James here.”
That’s night and day from when Marks started.
Today’s successes make it easy to forget yesterday’s struggles, but Brooklyn used to be the laughingstock of the NBA. When the Nets hired Marks in February of 2016, they were en route to a 21-win season. The following year, they only won 20, the worst record in the NBA by four games and the worst in the East by eight.
There wasn’t a star in sight on that year’s roster. It was headlined by Brook Lopez, the only player in Brooklyn averaging more than 15 points per game.
Fast forward to 2021, and the Nets have three superstars each averaging at least 24 points a night. They have Durant, who just led Team USA to gold and nearly defeated this year’s NBA champions with injuries to his two co-stars.
“I think people were reminded, because it’s always kind of like what have you done lately with him sitting out before,” Griffin said. “People sort of forget just how good of a player he is, and you saw that in the playoffs. You’re reminded of that. So any time you have a guy of that caliber committing to the team like that, it helps everything go.”
“Everything” this year should mean a fully healthy Big 3. They have Harden, a former league MVP whose
court vision has landed him the team’s point guard role. They have Irving, one of the most talented scorers, finishers and dribblers in NBA history.
And they’re on pace to keep all three in Brooklyn for the next half-decade. No one could have seen this coming.
“You know it’s not like I wake up and pinch myself and say, ‘Wow look how far we’ve come,’ because I think we realize it looks a certain way on paper, but we really haven’t done anything yet,” Marks said. “So we have to remind ourselves there’s a long, long road ahead and there’s a lot of great teams that we need to try and get by. It doesn’t mean our aspirations aren’t ones with championships. That’s the plan here without a doubt.”
The Nets have flipped the script. They’ve gone from the hunted to hunters back to the hunted, a team that gets every team’s best shot every night because, well, they’re just that good. In a league where LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony are teammates in Los Angeles, and where Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday are the reigning NBA champions, it’s the Nets who hold the best odds at winning it all this season.
They had the same odds last year, right until Irving’s severe ankle injury wrecked their chances in Milwaukee.
Nothing can stop this team, not even another super team formed on the fly, if, of course, the Nets can stay healthy. That will always be the big if in Brooklyn. They have also resigned Griffin and added Patty Mills to replace Spencer Dinwiddie, who left Brooklyn to join forces with Bradley Beal in Washington, D.C.
The Nets rose from the NBA ashes as a super team, if they can lock in their Big 3 alongside Durant for four additional years, they’ll be atop the NBA totem pole for the better part of the next decade. In truth, they might not even need all three to re-sign. Durant has proven himself as the best player in basketball; the Nets will go as he goes. They’ll just need to fill in the blanks.
“But we have to be realistic about this. There’s a certain amount of luck that’s involved without a doubt, but I think you prepare for that as much as you can,” Marks said. “And I think our job right now is preparing whether that’s tweaking the roster or the guys individually making sure they’re in the best possible shape they can be and doing everything they can this offseason because they know what’s at stake here. Doesn’t take away from our goals, but at the same time, I don’t look back and say, ‘Look how far we’ve come,’ because I realize we have a long road to go yet.”