The Brooklyn Nets decided enough was enough.
Kyrie Irving claimed he wanted out, and they gladly opened the door for him, helped him pack, and even gladly drove them to the airport to make sure he had safe travel.
Then, they realized that there was no point in keeping Kevin Durant, who had requested a trade months ago and was a lock to ask out again without his best buddy in town.
However, NBA insider Stefano Vaccarino believes Nets owner Joe Tsai made a mistake with these moves, blaming him for blowing the roster up:
The Nets were a top 2 seed in the East and potentially making a case as the best team in the NBA. Kevin Durant gets hurt and it all blows up. Ultimately this falls on Joe Tsai.
— Stefano Vaccarino (@BigMoneyPlay) February 9, 2023
Nonetheless, Vaccarino could be ignoring the fact that Durant wanted no part of the team’s future with Sean Marks as their GM and that they actually had more than a decent value in return for his services.
The Nets aren’t rebuilding; they got Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, Spencer Dinwiddie, Doriann Finney-Smith, and a plethora of picks for their disgruntled players.
They also have a solid coach in Jacque Vaugh and two rising stars in Nic Claxton and Cam Thomas, not to mention the fact that they got rid of the two ego-driven stars that created mayhem within the organization.
More than that, as great as Kevin Durant is, he’s also gotten hurt way too often since arriving in Brooklyn, and getting four first-round picks and a pick swap for a 34-year-old player is always a win in my book.
This was never going to work, but Joe Tsai is a ruthless businessman, so he wasn’t going to be bullied by two NBA players.
NEXT: NBA Insider Details How Executives Reacted To Kevin Durant Trade
