Nets Rumors: BKN Confident of Landing Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, DeAndre Jordan
June 30, 2019
The Brooklyn Nets are reportedly showing an "undeniable vibe of confidence" they will land the Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant, Boston Celtics' Kyrie Irving and New York Knicks' DeAndre Jordan after the NBA free-agent moratorium period opens Sunday at 6 p.m. ET.
Marc Stein of the New York Times reported the update, noting the Nets "sure seem to believe" they will sign all three of their marquee targets.
Seemingly the only question mark is whether there's enough cap space to acquire all three players.
Tommy Beer of Rotoworld noted Brooklyn would need to trade Dzanan Musa and Rodions Kurucs or a higher-paid player equivalent to their salaries to create two slots for max contracts for Durant and Irving, and Jordan would be forced to accept a mid-level exception.
Those type of smaller moves rarely hold up blockbuster acquisitions, however, and Jordan could be at the stage of his career where he'll accept a lesser base salary to chase a championship.
Even if the Nets' grand offseason plans come to fruition, it could take another year before Brooklyn moves into the group of legitimate title contenders. Durant suffered a ruptured Achilles during the 2019 NBA Finals and might miss the entire 2019-20 campaign as a result.
It's possible the team could push toward a playoff spot without KD during the regular season with hope he'd return for the playoffs. But it's unclear whether the two-time NBA Finals MVP would put his health at risk again after hurrying back from a calf injury to help the Warriors in the Finals.
Regardless, the Nets couldn't pass up an opportunity to land two of the league's most dynamic offensive players.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Durant will make his announcement Sunday night on the Instagram page of The Boardroom, his company-owned sports business network.
Brooklyn would immediately become a hot spot for role players looking to chase titles if it does land Durant, Irving and Jordan, as the Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat have illustrated over the past decade.