The Nets dealt away superstar Kevin Durant early Thursday morning, though it was reportedly a move that they weren’t expecting to make.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Brooklyn had traded Kyrie Irving with the motivation to bring back pieces to put around Durant and continue their playoff push, but after talking with Durant, it was clear that he wanted out as well.
“I can tell you that on Sunday when they traded Kyrie Irving, they didn’t think they’d be trading Kevin Durant today,” Windhorst said on SportsCenter. “Because the Kyrie Irving trade was set up to support players around Kevin Durant, and then Kevin Durant did not support it, and very clearly on Monday and Tuesday, he made it clear that he wanted to move on, and they were facing a situation where they were in a rush job.”
With that in mind, the Nets likely regret not sending Irving to the Lakers, where they could have gotten a better package to build for the future, though owner Joe Tsai reportedly didn’t want to send Irving to his preferred destination. But now that Durant is also gone, Brooklyn could have arguably been better set up for its rebuild if the team had made a different deal. Instead, the franchise has traded its two superstars, when it originally planned on building around its brightest one, even after Irving left.
“The lane that the Nets were in on Sunday is not the lane the Nets are in now,” Windhorst said.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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