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Kevin Durant Trade Ends Disastrous Nets Era

Here is a timeline of the Durant era in Brooklyn.

Robin Lundberg

In the early-morning hours Thursday, the Brooklyn Nets agreed to trade Kevin Durant to the Suns just days after sending Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks. The seemingly inevitable move ends a tumultuous era for the franchise that began with a tweet over three years ago.  

Here is a timeline of the KD-Kyrie era in Brooklyn.

The Nets landed Durant and Irving, and it felt like the moment officially put the franchise on the map. 

The excitement would have to wait, though, given that Durant was still sidelined by an Achilles injury. But the drama began immediately.

KD didn’t play at all in the 2019–20 season, while Irving took the floor for only 20 after he was shut down with a shoulder issue. Despite not having a full lineup, the team made a coaching change—Kenny Atkinson, who had helped guide the franchise’s rebuild that included the acquisition of the free agents, was fired in March 2020 with plenty of speculation around the two new stars having some input in the decision.

Jacque Vaughn took over to guide what became the “Bubble Nets,” who were swept out of the playoffs with neither Durant nor Irving in the lineup. During that offseason, Brooklyn named Steve Nash as its next coach—a Hall of Fame player with no head coaching experience. It wasn’t a worry for Irving, who infamously proclaimed he didn’t really see the team having a head coach.

The duo got off to an unceremonious start in 2020–21, which included a mysterious absence from Irving, who was seen at a birthday party and on a Zoom meeting but not at his team’s games for a short period. The Nets then jettisoned all remnants of what was built before the arrivals of KD and Kyrie by making another blockbuster move, this time for James Harden. 

Harden put up some big statistical games, and the newly formed Big Three entered the playoffs as championship favorites. They won their only playoff series of the entire experiment, beating the Celtics. Harden and Irving suffered injuries in the next series against Milwaukee, and the Nets wound up falling to the Bucks in Game 7 by an inch of Durant’s shoe.

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But Brooklyn was never able to build on its superstar foundation. At the beginning of the season, Irving did not take the COVID-19 vaccine, making him unavailable for home games due to New York City regulations during the pandemic. 

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The team got off to a good start despite Irving’s absence, but everything soon went off the rails. Kyrie was eventually brought back for road games, but Durant suffered a knee injury shortly thereafter, and it became apparent Harden wanted out.

The Nets never recovered. Simmons didn’t take the floor all season, and the team went into a tailspin without Durant in the lineup. Irving eventually won his feud with the mayor of New York and was cleared for home games.

It didn’t matter come playoff time, as the Nets were swept by the Celtics in the first round.

The never-ending chaos continued that summer. One day after Kyrie opted into his deal following reports that the Nets allowed him to seek a trade, KD requested a trade of his own. Which left many, including myself, wondering what led him to that point. 

Eventually KD and the team came to an understanding, and things seemed to be stable. That is, until Kyrie posted a link promoting an antisemitic film. His subsequent handling of questions about it led to the team to suspend him. In what has become a footnote, Nash was relieved of his duties as coach, and Vaughn once again took over the team.

Despite all the drama, which included Nets owner Joe Tsai reportedly giving a list of criteria needed to be met by the point guard, Kyrie eventually returned, and the Nets put together the best 20-game stretch in franchise history.

Everything seemed stable again … until Irving requested a trade after he and the Nets reportedly couldn’t come to an agreement on a new contract. Brooklyn apparently was not willing to offer a fully guaranteed deal given his tumultuous tenure.

Still, the return of Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie led to the belief that the Nets’ plan was to build around Durant. That was until Thursday morning. 

As the dust settles, Durant will be competing for a title with the Suns, while Irving attempts to do the same alongside Luka Dončić. Meanwhile, the dumpster fire they helped ignite remains in their rearview. 

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Robin Lundberg
ROBIN LUNDBERG

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