Jared Dudley: Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving Not Meeting with Nets Would Shock Me

Brooklyn Nets forward Jared Dudley told Marc Stein of the New York Times that he would be "shocked if the Nets don't get a sit-down" with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving this summer when the two stars potentially become free agents.

Dudley also said he believes the Nets will be a "top three" destination for prospective free agents, noting that the Nets can free up the cap space for two max slots this summer.

"I'm not here just to toot Brooklyn's horn. I've sold Brooklyn to other players just because you'd want the same thing," Dudley added. "Players want to know the good organizations from the bad."

The Nets are indeed well-positioned to make a splash in free agency. They have an intriguing young team, are a destination market in Brooklyn and have plenty of cap space. They currently have $59.6 million in practical cap space, per Spotrac.com, though a good chunk of that could be used retaining restricted free agent D'Angelo Russell.

As Dudley noted, teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and New York Knicks will be players in free agency, too. The Philadelphia 76ers will have cap space as well, though they'll likely try to retain Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris. And the Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors will make their pitches to keep Durant, Klay Thompson, Irving and Kawhi Leonard, respectively.

Even if Brooklyn doesn't land a Durant or Irving, they could make an intriguing pitch to the next level of free agents like Butler, Harris, Kemba Walker, Khris Middleton or even Nikola Vucevic. 

It will be disappointing if the Nets aren't able to add at least one premier free agent next year. Regardless, with players like Jarrett Allen, Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert returning—and Russell likely to return—the Nets have built a solid young core and should be a playoff team going forward.