Imagine, for a moment, that Boston's point guard, Kyrie Irving, was on the Nets last season instead of, say, Allen Crabbe.
Brooklyn surely would have finished with a record better than 42-40, but how far do you think the Nets would have advanced in the postseason?
With an underwhelming power rotation of Rodions Kurucs, Jared Dudley and Treveon Graham next to physically developing center Jarrett Allen, I believe they still would have been first-round fodder for the beefier teams at the top of the Eastern Conference.
Adding Irving alone would not have moved the needle as much as most people think.
The Kyrie-to-the-Nets rumors for next season are ramping up in the local and national media with less than four weeks remaining before the clock strikes 6 p.m. on June 30, the official start of the NBA's free agency negotiating period. I rarely take any of these reports seriously, since they're so often proven wrong. Yes, Irving grew up a Nets fan. A New Jersey Nets fan. He recently purchased a house in South Orange, New Jersey, but that would be a horrific daily commute to Brooklyn.
However, since there's so much smoke, let's assume for this purpose that both parties are at least contemplating a match.
In my view, unless this acquisition is just the start of general manager Sean Marks' bigger strategic plan for the near future, this would be the wrong move for Brooklyn.
I know, it's blasphemous for the Nets, a franchise that has been mocked for much of its existence and a stepchild in its own city, to turn down the services of a marquee player like Irving, a six-time All-Star in his eight NBA seasons. He's a 22.2-point-per-game career scorer with a near 40% 3-point shooting rate. I would classify his handle the best in the game. His finishes at the rim are reminiscent of Allen Iverson. He's great.
Having Irving's interest is a huge step forward for this organization. Under Marks' leadership, the Nets have worked tirelessly toward changing the perception around the league from a team that couldn't get out of its own way to one with a track record of making players better through a team-first development culture.
Successfully recruiting Irving would be a validation for the program. It would be a game-changing dynamic.
But not always in a good way. Two years ago, Irving requested a trade from Cleveland to break from the domineering shadow of LeBron James and be the leader in Boston. It did not go as planned. While his stats remained spectacular, Irving missed a combined 37 games in the two seasons and the entire 2018 playoffs due to injuries.
Boston nearly reached the NBA Finals that season, falling a game short of LeBron's Irving-less Cavs, while meekly falling to Milwaukee in five games in the second round this postseason with Irving. The NBA's amateur psychologists are having a field day with that.
Many blame Irving for the Celtics' underachievement, arguing that he's not leadership material.
There were likely other issues in Boston, but Irving's potential impact on Brooklyn's structure might be more problematic than his alleged maturity issues.
The Nets are already a backcourt-heavy team, with D'Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert all capable of running the show. Joe Harris, DeMarre Carroll and Crabbe, before his season-ending knee injury, were the 3-point shooting wings.
If the Nets want to sign Irving to a max four-year, $140.6 million contract, they'd either have to find a trade partner to take on Crabbe's $18.5 million 2019-20 salary or renounce their rights to many of their own free agents, including Russell, a restricted free agent.
Reports indicate that Marks is willing to reach into his 2019 draft pick inventory (Nos. 17, 27 and 31) to help deal Crabbe and that the Nets are floating the idea of pairing Irving and Russell next season.
However, that wouldn't leave much money to boost their thin frontcourt. Golden State's Kevin Durant was always a pipe dream. I never for a second believed the reports that he wanted to team up with Irving despite the viral video (taken by someone I used to coach in Little League, by the way) of the two talking at the All-Star Game. It made no sense to me that Durant, who chafed playing with ball-dominant guard Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City and reportedly now wants to be "the man" on a new team, would commit to playing with an alpha dog like Irving.
Rostering both Russell and Irving wouldn't just take the Nets out of the KD sweepstakes; they'd also have to forgo a Tobias Harris-type Plan B option.
Remember, Dudley, Carroll and Ed Davis were key frontcourt rotation pieces this season and will all be unrestricted free agents. They would likely have to be replaced if their cap holds are renounced.
As for what kind of team the Nets would become, they'd be even more stagnant offensively and worse defensively. The Warriors can get away with multiple superstars on the court simultaneously because Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson rarely stop moving and they are blessed with a ton of tremendous passers. On the Nets, only Harris and Crabbe commit to moving off the ball like that, and I would count Russell as the only passer on that level. Irving has similar assist numbers to DLo, but maybe that was because Russell was surrounded by bricklayers at the four and five. DLo would have averaged double-digit assists playing for Boston, in my opinion.
Marks once said that he's always in "talent-acquisition mode" and it's up to coach Kenny Atkinson to "sort it out." Signing Irving would be taking that to the extreme.
Again, unless Marks has a plan to make multiple moves -- maybe clearing a path to convince Durant to make Brooklyn his home or using his backcourt surplus in a trade for New Orleans All-Star Anthony Davis -- signing Irving will leave the Nets' roster just as unbalanced and still far from contention.
For a FAN's perspective of the Nets, Devils and Jets, follow Steve on Twitter @SteveLichtenst1.
