Spencer Dinwiddie was confident last season that Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant were coming to Brooklyn, former Nets teammate Ed Davis tells Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Davis, now with the Jazz, said Dinwiddie began talking about landing the star free agents before last year’s All-Star break.
“Spence knew,” Davis said. “My locker was right next to Spencer’s too so we used to talk all the time. And he was saying that early. So we knew it was a good chance.”
Bondy notes that Dinwiddie may have diminished his own role in Brooklyn by recruiting Irving. Dinwiddie was putting up All-Star numbers while Irving was sidelined with a shoulder impingement, but they will now share playmaking duties.
“We’re just going to go with the flow,” Dinwiddie said. “We’re just going to go with whoever is hot in the moment.”
There’s more from Brooklyn:
- Echoing comments earlier this week from general manager Sean Marks, Nets owner Joe Tsai told Brian Lewis of the New York Post that he’s willing to pay the luxury tax in order to compete for a title. “I think the fans expect that we win a championship. And the good thing is I believe that we do have the pieces in place,” Tsai said in a YES Network interview. “Now we have some injuries and people are coming back. But the fundamental pieces are in place to perhaps go all the way, so I’m absolutely comfortable that if we pay the luxury tax, that’s fine.” Lewis points out that the Nets are slightly below the $143MM cap threshold for next season, but that figures to change once they re-sign Joe Harris and fill out the roster.
- Durant answered fans’ questions on Twitter this week about his recovery from a ruptured Achilles, Lewis adds in the same story. Durant discussed the “everyday grind” of rehab and how difficult it is to be away from the game. “It gets better everyday, but (it’s) good to have patience,” he tweeted.
- Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot returns to Philadelphia tonight in a stable situation for the first time since the Sixers traded him in 2018, observes Alex Schiffer of The Athletic. Luwawu-Cabarrot is on a two-way contract with Brooklyn and has helped the team stay afloat through injuries. He has about a week left on his 45-day NBA limit, leaving the Nets with a decision about whether to give him a standard contract to keep him on the main roster.
Everyone said last summer that the Nets were the big winners in free agency, but they weren’t. Brooklyn isn’t getting KD in his prime. He will never be the same after the achilles injury and will be making $54.75M/year over the next 3 seasons since he didn’t play at all this season. He might be barely worth 1/2 that at this point of his career.
Can hardly say that after he hasn’t played a single minute after the injury. Jamal Crawford and Kyle Lowry have both come back from a torn ACL.
Hasn’t been posted here but Irving said after today’s loss. When asked about the pieces of the Nets. He said they might need a player or two and listed himself, Dinwiddie, KD, LeVert and DJ as the main players.
Might not be a big thing but I wonder how that make Jarrett Allen and T Prince and Joe Harris feel.
Allen is the current starting centre and has a huge future…. Prince just signed an extension and has been playing well and Harris has been huge for the locker room.
I know it’s very very far fetched but what about a Jarrett Allen for Kyle Kuzma trade??
The Nets would have a solid shooting PF and the idea of KD and Kuz sounds really interesting. DJ at centre, and KD at SF makes up for Kuzma’s lack of rebounding and not great defence.
Lakers don’t seem very high on Kuzma for whatever reason but Allen would be an interesting return.
As for the Lakers future AD and Allen would be a good duo and Allen would be a solid rim runner and shot blocker.
Not sure if either team would be interested but think it would be potentially be a good move for both teams.
A torn ACL and a torn Achilles are very different beasts. Quoting USA Today “Almost half of 44 NBA players who ruptured Achilles tendons over the past three decades were unable to return or play more than 10 games upon returning to the league”. Actually, there’s only one player (Dominique Wilkins) who came back from an Achilles injury as strong as before. That’s not to say it’s impossible for Durant to regain his previous level… but the odds are against him. In any case, half Durant is better than most players in the league.
You cant forgot medical technology has gotten better by leaps and bounds in the 3 decades they are quoting.
Tommy John surgery used to be the kiss of death for baseball players 10 years ago as well. Now kids are electing to get it before they even get drafted
Cancer also used to kill the vast majority of people afflicted by it, now its curable (certain types at least with early detection)
I dont envision KD coming back at any less then 90% of his former self, and that’s still better than the vast majority of the league
He’ll be fine
Surgical techniques may have improved, but you have an example as recent as DeMarcus Cousins, who has been barely able to play after his Achilles rupture (and the times he did, he looked nowhere near to his former self). Indeed, it is not the same a center as a forward, but an Achilles injury is still something to be legitimately scared about.