The Nets Should Burn It All Down

There is nothing to salvage in Brooklyn. The Kevin Durant–Kyrie Irving era was a failure.

Editors’ note: This story was originally published on Nov. 4. On Feb. 3, Kyrie Irving requested a trade from the Nets.

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The underachieving, uninspiring, increasingly nauseating Nets of Brooklyn are reportedly set to name Ime Udoka as their new head coach, which seemingly makes sense from a pure basketball standpoint. 

The Nets have championship hopes, and Udoka just took a team to the Finals in June. The Nets need a coach who commands the respect of All-Stars, and Udoka did so in Boston. The Nets need a coach who connects with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, and Udoka knows both, from a previous stint in Brooklyn. The Nets need someone to instill a defensive grit; Udoka checks that box, too.

If there’s a coach who could steady the Nets’ ship and save the season, it just might be Udoka. (And yes, of course, Udoka brings his own baggage with his suspension by the Celtics for potential misconduct.)

Which all sounds perfectly logical, save for one minor flaw: This thing is already over. Done. Kaput. There is nothing to salvage. An inspiring revival? Not happening. A championship? Pure fantasy. This entire experiment, this entire era, was a failure—past tense—and any attempt to extend it is an act of profound self-delusion.

The Nets needn’t waste time fortifying themselves for next spring. They should do the opposite: Start the teardown, immediately.

Trade Irving for whatever you can get (or waive him, if all else fails). Cash out Durant for as many players and draft picks as you can extract. Gauge the market for Ben Simmons, as a matter of due diligence.

This isn’t hyperbole, or reactionary thinking. It’s a basic acknowledgment of where this franchise truly stands, after eight games, six losses, another coach firing and another Kyrie conflagration. The Nets are not fixing anything this season, which means they won’t all be here next season.

Irving is a free agent in July. There’s a zero-percent chance the Nets re-sign him after his recent detour into the antisemitic sewer—and they probably weren’t going to, anyway.

Durant—who joined the Nets in a package deal with Irving, his close friend—won’t want to stay as a solo star, or waste his twilight years on a middling team. That trade demand he issued a few months ago? He’ll make it again, justifiably.

So at the very latest, this all ends next spring. Whether the final crash and burn comes in the playoffs or the play-in is irrelevant. It’s coming. The Nets would be best served by conceding the point now and trading their stars before their value (and/or health) degrades any further.

“I would literally just do it now,” said a Western Conference team executive. “KD’s [trade] return alone would set this team up with some sort of hope for the next few years.”

Other team executives who spoke to Sports Illustrated this week echoed that stance.

“It’s just a bad vibe around that team,” said an Eastern Conference exec. “They just seem like they don’t like each other.”

And though the rival execs differed on how much the Nets could get for their stars, all agreed on the basic premise: a teardown is now their best option.

Start with Durant, who even at age 34 is producing at an elite level and could anchor a contender. The Nets balked at trading him this summer, in part because they never got an offer they deemed worthy. They were also demanding a steep return: a minimum of one All-Star, one young player with All-Star potential, three unprotected first-round picks and multiple pick swaps. Also noteworthy: They never truly wanted to trade him, and set a steep price accordingly.

Rival executives don’t think the Nets will get that kind of return now, either. But they could get, as the previously quoted Western Conference exec said, “a Rudy Gobert–ish return, if not bigger,” referring to the All-Star center who was traded from Utah to Minnesota in July. In that deal, the Jazz received four first-round picks, one pick swap and five rotation-level players.

Durant, three years removed from Achilles surgery, and with a lot of miles on him, probably won’t fetch another elite talent in return. As one talent evaluator put it, Durant is “still a top-15 guy, but I don’t think he’s a top-five guy anymore.” And any team acquiring him will want him to join its stars, not replace them, with the hope of making a title run.

“I think realistically it’s going to be a bunch of picks and some O.K. players,” the first Western Conference exec said.

And those picks probably will be lottery-protected. But the Nets’ front office under Sean Marks has found hidden gems low in the draft before, including Caris LeVert (20th in 2016), Jarrett Allen (22nd in ’17) and Nic Claxton (31st in ’19). “They have a smart front office; they can do it again,” the executive said.

The Raptors will again be suitors, though the Nets would probably have to settle for a package of picks and some assortment of OG Anunoby, Fred VanVleet and/or Gary Trent Jr. No one believes Toronto will give up All-Star Pascal Siakam or rising star Scottie Barnes.

The Suns could come calling again, offering Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson, plus the full boat of picks and swaps. Or, if the Nets are willing to wait, they could ask for Bridges and Deandre Ayton, who isn’t trade-eligible until Jan. 15.

The Heat surely could call again, dangling Tyler Herro and picks as a starting point. No one around the league believes Miami will part with Bam Adebayo, whose inclusion in a deal would be complicated by arcane salary-cap rules, anyway. (The Nets would have to offload Simmons first.)

The surging Pelicans, armed with multiple stars and a gold mine of Lakers draft picks, could make a strong bid, though rivals don’t believe they would include Zion Williamson or their other two stars, Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum. One exec suggested a Bulls bid, based around DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso and picks.

And then there’s this bold thought from an Eastern Conference exec: Offer Durant to the Rockets, to reacquire some of the Nets’ own first-round picks, which were sent to Houston in the James Harden trade two seasons ago.

“Then you’re tanking and getting in the [Victor Wembanyama] sweepstakes,” the exec said, referring to the dazzling French prospect who’s a lock to be drafted No. 1 in June. The exec added, “If Houston had KD, they’d be a playoff team.”

It's time for the Nets to go in a different direction amid Kyrie Irving saga.  :: Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports

Trading Irving is far more complicated, of course, because of an extensive history of controversy and chaos—from his flat-Earth declarations to his vaccine refusal to his recent promotion of an antisemitic film, in addition to alienating teammates and coaches with three different teams. But he’s still in his prime at age 30, still immensely talented and playing on a one-year deal that minimizes any risk.

The Lakers, who pursued Irving over the summer, remain the most likely—and perhaps only—suitor, per rival executives. Any deal would likely involve Russell Westbrook and one of the Lakers’ future first-round picks.

“I think they would still do that,” a second Western Conference exec said of the Lakers—though he also wondered whether, given recent events, the Lakers might instead ask the Nets for a pick to take on Irving. Or, as another team exec suggested, maybe the teams just swap Westbrook and Irving, without picks going in either direction.

Multiple execs believe Irving will end up with the Lakers next summer, regardless of what happens now. But beyond the Lakers, “There’s no takers of Kyrie,” the second Western Conference exec said. “His trade market is probably nonexistent.”

The first Western Conference exec put it more bluntly: “I wouldn’t trade our 15th guy for [Irving]. That guy is as toxic as they get. I don’t care how good he is.”

But if Brooklyn can get anything at all for Irving now—even nominal players or second-round picks—it’s a net plus, since he’ll almost certainly leave for nothing in July. Given all his baggage, even waiving him outright could be considered addition by subtraction.

“If you can get two young guys with a pulse for Kyrie, you gotta do it,” said the first Western Conference exec.

Then there’s Simmons, whose market value has never been lower. An All-NBA selection just two years ago, Simmons now looks ordinary—tentative, listless and thoroughly ineffective. Whether it’s because of the back issues he’s had, the mental health issues he’s dealt with, the rust from missing a full season, the adjustment to playing with Durant and Irving, or all of the above, is unclear. But rival execs say the Nets wouldn’t get much for the 26-year-old if they traded him now.

“He’s become a complete non-offensive player,” said one assistant general manager. “He’s not even close to the player that we once saw.”

Some of the more analytics-driven teams—say, the Thunder or the Spurs—might look to buy low on Simmons and try to rehabilitate his game, the assistant GM said. But the most the Nets would probably get in return are rotation players and a lottery-protected pick, which makes any deal unlikely.

“You’re not getting anything of actual value for him,” said the assistant GM.

The Nets, rival execs agreed, would be better off keeping Simmons and surrounding him with shooters, in hopes of reviving the dynamism and playmaking that made him the No. 1 pick in 2016 and a three-time All-Star.

The Nets cannot go the tanking route, since the Rockets control all of their first-round picks through 2027. But a revitalized Simmons, flanked by quality players acquired via the Durant and Irving trades, could keep them respectable—“a fun, scrappy team,” said the first Western Conference exec. “Keep him, get the other two guys out of there, and suddenly maybe there’s a semblance of something.”

Is there a risk in blowing it all up now? Absolutely. Without their two stars, the Nets might indeed plummet to the bottom of the standings and, with an unlucky bounce of the ping-pong balls, end up delivering Wembanyama to the Rockets—an added dose of humiliation. But that pick is gone, a sunk cost. And the Nets, even with Durant and Irving, are already on course for a disastrous season, and a reckoning next summer.

No one can blame the Nets for going all-in three years ago, pinning their fate to two transcendent talents, dreaming of glory and banner raisings and parades down Flatbush. It was an alluring vision, a worthy bet. But it’s become a nightmare, and the only known remedy for that is to wake up.