The NBA Draft was hours away when Tiki & Tierney took the airwaves on Thursday, and while the Brooklyn Nets don't own any picks going into the Draft – their first-rounder went to Houston in the James Harden trade, and the second-rounder to Detroit in the deal that sent DeAndre Jordan to Motown – there was plenty of Nets drama to be had on Draft Day.
As it stands, Kevin Durant is reportedly "monitoring" the impasse between the Nets and Kyrie Irving, one that has allegedly seen Irving give Brooklyn a list of teams he would accept a sign and trade deal to and has Durant wondering if he wants to play out his four-year extension in NYC or demand a trade.
The KD/Kyrie era has produced just one playoff series win in three years, and in the midst of BT discussing what he thinks his Knicks will do with their draft capital (spoiler: make a trade), he came back to a point about Durant:
"He's a good season away from jumping towards the Top 10 in scoring, he's a 12-time All-Star, two-time NBA Champion, Rookie of the Year, MVP…his resume is flawless," BT said, "and it is my contention that no Superstar in my lifetime had made as dumb a decision as Kevin Durant going to the Brooklyn Nets."
The reason? Kyrie Irving.
"One of the all-time greats hitched his wagon to someone so emotionally unreliable in terms of team concept…name somebody else that did something that foolish?" BT asked. "Durant can Tweet me all he wants, but he knows it was a bad move."
Tiki, having been a player in a league where player empowerment isn't as prevalent, he tried to explain how it works in the NBA.
"It's a relatively new world where NBA stars are doing this, even though it feels like a long time since LeBron hitched his wagon to Bosh and Wade," Tiki said. "It's got to feel strong when you can make the choice about your basketball and business future, but with the Golden State Warriors figuring it out and winning a championship without KD, a lot of the hate started going back at KD. I don't get that, but that's what happened."
And it's a good thing the Basketball Hall of Fame doesn't do something similar to the teams on the caps in the Baseball Hall of Fame, because Tiki says KD would have some problems there.
"Kevin Durant is now stuck as a man without a team," Tiki said. "Who's claiming him 20 years from now? Maybe it's just him as an iconic player, but he's a standalone who is kind of just there."
BT noted, to that point, that you can name certain players and a singular team comes to mind (like Jordan and the Bulls), but KD coming to BKN was a "gross miscalculation" in that regard.
"He's getting paid, but he would've gotten paid anywhere," BT said.
"Maybe that was his intent, because he and his team have invested in a lot of things," Tiki replied, "but I think he wanted to be in New York because of the opportunities."
Regardless of the reasons, BT was doubling down on the notion of the mistake.
"I've always kind of thought it," he said, "but I can't think of another example in the NBA where someone had such a gross miscalculation: relying on somebody who is not delivering and is now adversely affecting their place in the game."
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