With the dust settled (for now) on a dramatic summer full of trade and personnel demands from Nets superstar Kevin Durant, Zach Harper of The Athletic has compiled a list of the five “winners” and five “losers” following a torrid two months in Brooklyn.
Team president Sean Marks and the young players mentioned as possible centerpieces in Durant trades score high marks from Harper, while Celtics wing Jaylen Brown and Brooklyn head coach Steve Nash are among the folks involved in the rumor mill who suffered in the saga, with Nash’s long-term future with the Nets and Brown’s standing in Boston now less certain than they were at the start of the summer.
Net Income of NetsDaily penned a similar piece unpacking the winners, losers and “innocent bystanders” of the Durant chatter. Nash fares more favorably in Net Income’s appraisal.
There’s more out of Brooklyn:
- With Durant seemingly in the fold at least to start the 2022/23 NBA season, Brooklyn’s title odds instantly improved at various sportsbooks, per Lance Pugmire of USA Today. Pugmire writes that Tipico Sportsbook projects the Nets as having the third-best odds to win the championship among Eastern Conference teams, behind only the 2022 finalist Celtics and 2021 champion Bucks.
- Net Income of NetsDaily wonders if star Nets teammate Kyrie Irving‘s decision to opt in to the final year of his contract with Brooklyn – and a subsequent truce between Irving and the team – helped the club quell its issues with Durant for the time being.
- In case you missed it, the Nets are considering free agent big men Markieff Morris and Tristan Thompson as possibilities to shore up their frontcourt.
The Nyets will win the NBA Championship this season because the new Player Coach\GM Durant says so.
The ‘Nyets’? Prokhorov has not owned the team in three years. Did you need a vacuum to remove all the dust from that old reference?
2 star divas= 0 rings.
They will sell jerseys, season tickets, and subscriptions to watch Nets and then Injuries after injuries with KD, Kyrie, and Simmons…
Cancer Irving will be comeback player of the year in 2022-23.
After all this noise and drama. Why would you want those two back in Bklyn.
They have compared NBA stars. To like rock stars or pop stars. Money wise and diva wise anyway. And cause they are who you come to see right. Well
Difference is a performer only has that gig. It could be a night or a few days. Even if it’s a tour it’s one city gig. That he can do or go diva nuts on.
A star player signs and is expected to lead a team. Help run it to contention. Which is not about one night. Or one city. It’s about 82 gms. And building a contender to compete for a chip. It’s about building a franchise to a higher level.
So my point is. You can’t let these stars run a team or worse a franchise. You can’t have divas who want it their way. No star player is bigger than a team. Real stars understand that. It’s the ones like KD and Kyrie. Who think it’s about them. That will always run into trouble. For all the Diva things Bron does. He understands that it’s the team that wins. And it’s the winning that brings him all the things this diva wants.
It’s a Team Sport ……..
The word “diva” is often used as an insult to describe performers (actors, singers, or any other such entertainers) who, often after an initial success, begin to hold a high opinion of themselves–expecting special treatment, etc…
And how aren’t Durant and Cancer a pack of diva’s? It definitely seems like you just described them both to a tee? The Nyets should of just moved Player/Coach/GM Durant when they had a chance, and nobody in the league wanted to play with Cancer Irving except for Bron. Sounds like the makings of a Championship? Smh
Simmons, KI and Kd all have something to prove. The also have the right role players around them in Claxton, Curry, Harris Warren and Mills. Has Nash learned how to coach is the question. Maybe he will get blessed to go against the biggest fake coach in Doc Rivers to win. I don’t see the Nets beating the Celtics Nets or the Bucks they are playoff seasoned!
There’s still a fair amount of differences in the odds to win the ‘chip depending on the sportsbook. Celtics are the consensus favorites, GSW 2nd or tied for 2nd everywhere but Pointsbet who have the Clippers 2nd and Fanduel, where the Bucks are 2nd.
Vegasinsider averaging the major sportsbook odds gives the following top ten in this order:
Celtics
GSW
Bucks
Clippers
Nets
Suns
76ers
Heat
Lakers
Nuggets