Brooklyn in the house
Not much to say here. Brooklyn signed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, who both agreed to take slightly less than max money, which allowed the Nets to also add DeAndre Jordan on a four-year, $40 million deal. Brooklyn losesD'Angelo Russell in the process in a sign-and-trade for Durant with theWarriors (which we'll get to), but the Nets are contenders now. Maybe not right away next season, but they'll be darn good, perhaps a top-four seed, and come 2020-21 when they get Durant back, look out.
To think where the Nets were six years ago when they traded everything but their soul to the Celtics -- leaving them with no picks, no assets, no anything for the foreseeable future -- it is stunning what they have turned themselves into. Remember, Kyrie and K.D. coming to Brooklyn is the headline, but the Nets don't even have a shot at them if they don't put together a winning, promising team off the scrap yard over the past half-decade. They have a culture. They have coaching. They have front-office stars. They have a host of really good young players. And now they have two superstars. Incredible.
Warriors don't rebuild, they D-Load
Just when you thought the Warriors had lost Kevin Durant for nothing, Golden State and the Brooklyn Nets reportedly agreed to a sign-and-trade for Durant that will send D'Angelo Russell to the Bay Area. This. Is. Madness. all things considered, this could be the bombshell of the night. Yes, a sign-and-trade with someone for Durant had been talked about but for this to actually happen is nuts. The Warriors were going to lose Durant for nothing and they had no money or assets that are attractive enough to replace him. Now, out of the rabbit's hat, they get a 23-year-old All-Star who was on the shortlist for a max deal with a lot of teams? Light Freaking Years.
There is one catch here:
Listen, losing Iguodala is noteworthy. He's still a huge player come playoff time. But he's on the downslope, and again, the Warriors, who just signed Klay Thompson to a max deal and might have to do the same for Draymond Green next summer, weren't going to be able to get younger talent for a good chunk of time. They also get a $17 million trade exception for Iggy, which they use starting next summer.
There will be other casualties from this deal. The Warriors are now hard capped at just shy of $139 million after the Russell trade, meaning DeMarcus Cousins is almost surely gone. Jordan Bell is already out to Minnesota. Shaun Livingston probably gone, too, whether via retirement or being waived. Kevin Looney is back on a three-year, $15 million deal, which is huge.
in this sense, Russell is far from free. But he's a good 23-year-player who they can test the waters with, and if he doesn't fit, can look to trade for assets that they don't have many other avenues of acquiring.
Knicks strike out
There was a time not that long ago when the Knicks were considered the front-runners to land both Durant and Irving, along with being one of the three teams with the best odds at getting No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson. They traded Kristaps Porzingis, the franchise's best asset in decades, in
anticipation of all this coming together. None of it did.
First, the Knicks fell to the No. 3 pick in the draft, then Sunday they missed on Irving and Durant -- not to mention Jimmy Butler and Kemba Walker. Technically, Kawhi Leonard is still available, but come on. That ain't happening. To make matters worse, it was reported that the Knicks weren't even prepared to offer Durant a max deal. If this is true, they didn't just lose the race; they didn't even run it.
So excited were the Knicks about the signings they did make -- Julius Randle, Taj Gibson and Bobby Portis -- that they literally issued an apology to their fans.
"While we understand that some Knicks fans could be disappointed with tonight's news, we continue to be upb
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