The Nets may be one of the worst teams in the NBA this season, but they’ve made one of the strongest pushes yet to Kevin Durant, the No. 1 free agent of the 2016 offseason. They did it by dominating Durant and the Thunder in a very surprising upset.
Nets big men Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young say they’ve begun recruiting potential free agents to Brooklyn, and that has to include Durant, who will be the biggest fish. Then they took it to him on the court, combining for 45 points and 24 boards in a double-digit win. Durant came away from the loss impressed.
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“They [Lopez and Young] kicked our ass all night -- rebounding the ball, scoring in the paint. They did what they wanted to,” Durant said after the game. “We have to do a better job helping our bigs out down there. They kind of controlled the game, their bigs.”
Durant’s free agency could become as big a story as LeBron James’ back in 2012 because of the rising salary cap, and the slew of teams that have positioned themselves to have tremendous cap room capable of absorbing two or potentially even three max contracts. Durant complimented Brooklyn and their fans afterward, which has to have Nets fans head over heels.
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“It’s always fun. It’s the mecca of basketball, New York City, and just to play here in front of these fans who enjoy the game of basketball, it’s amazing,” Durant said. “You can tell when you walk into the arena, just being at Barclays [Center] and being at Madison Square [Garden], it’s just that pure basketball feel that you get when you walk in those areas. So, it’s always a joy.”
But, Brooklyn will have to string together many more games like this one to convince Durant to leave the comfort of Oklahoma City, as well as perennial All-Star teammate in Russell Westbrook. The Nets still rank just 14th in the East, ahead of only the purposely atrocious 76ers. The win snapped an ugly five-game losing skid for the Nets.
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