Kevin Durant can turn any Nets anger into a legacy-defining title

“I don’t want to think about that already,” Lue said.

He was 90 minutes away from the start of a 124-116 victory over the Nets and the remarkable Cam Thomas, who scored 47 two nights after scoring 44, and yet Lue couldn’t help but think about his upcoming game plan against the Mavericks. He loves to blitz each ball-dominant playmaker the way old-school NFL types like Buddy Ryan and his sons loved to blitz quarterbacks.

“And now they’ve got two of ’em,” Lue sighed.

Hey, it’s a wonderful thing to have multiple stars at your disposal. Lue won a title in Cleveland with Irving and LeBron James in 2016, when it appeared the Cavaliers would steamroll the Eastern Conference forever. Irving bolted first, for the Celtics, before James left for the Lakers. They wanted to get back together this week, but Nets owner Joe Tsai wasn’t about to give Irving the landing he desired, not after the point guard had put the entire franchise through hell for so long.

Everyone who cares about the Nets has a right to be ticked at Irving, whose transgressions have given new meaning to the term “well-documented.” But the person who should be angriest is Kevin Durant. He left Steph Curry and the Warriors dynasty for a new adventure with Irving, who fed his tall, slender friend a big, fat lie.

In the early hours of free agency on July 1, 2019 — at 4:16 a.m. to be exact — Irving, Durant, and DeAndre Jordan discussed playing together for the team the Jersey-born Irving grew up rooting for.

“We want to end our careers together,” the point guard would say. “We want to do this as a team, and then what better place to do it in Brooklyn with all these guys that have worked their tails off to be where they are now?”

Nearly all those grinders were eventually run out of their scholarships, including Spencer Dinwiddie, who was just sent back to the Nets in the Irving deal. He returns as a haunting reminder of Kenny Atkinson’s functioning culture.

The prospect of playing with Dinwiddie and this supercharged version of the 21-year-old Thomas, the second youngest player in NBA history (LeBron) to score at least 40 in back-to-back games, didn’t inspire Durant to stop after the game to talk to reporters waiting for him. He did talk to coach Jacque Vaughn about the game and said, “Great fight for our guys.”

Vaughn came away thinking Durant is already gathering intel on the new cast while rehabbing his knee. But when asked if he’s concerned that Irving’s exit will negatively impact Durant’s desire to remain a Net, Vaughn responded, “I’m not going to speculate and get in Kevin’s mind at all.”

The coach said Durant’s long-term feelings about the Nets didn’t come up in their conversation.

So be it.

Truth is, despite his influence in shaping misguided moves (Steve Nash, James Harden, etc.) that allowed the Nets to lead the league in only one category — trade demands, including Durant’s — KD doesn’t deserve half the blame that belongs with Irving, who repeatedly abandoned his teammate before blowing him off for good. Durant might now feel compelled to take out his frustrations on the Nets and, for a second time, demand a trade. If not by Thursday afternoon, then sometime next summer.

He should resist the urge to do that. Durant should honour the terms of the four-year, $198 million extension he signed to take him through the 2025-26 season due to the potential benefits of conquering this immense challenge.

At 34, Durant has already proved he can win championships as the best player on a stacked team. Imagine the impact on his legacy if he can rise from this rubble and ultimately beat the Knicks to the city’s first NBA title since 1973.

Meanwhile, Nets general manager Sean Marks needs to land a second-tier star for Durant ASAP. Toronto’s Fred VanVleet would be perfect as Brooklyn’s answer to Jalen Brunson. Of course, getting Ben Simmons near his All-Star level in Philly would make a lot of KD’s problems disappear.

“At the end of the day Kevin wants to win, and that’s always been our goal,” Vaughn said. “He wants to win at shootaround, he wants to win any game of the week. That’s why he loves to play. That’s why he wants to play 82 games. That will be our holy grail. … Until there’s something for me to be concerned about, I’ll carry on as business as usual.”

The Nets will never represent business as usual. But they do finally have a coach who looks like a keeper in Vaughn, and some interesting complementary pieces.

They also have an all-time great, Kevin Durant, who can do an awful lot for his place in history if he sticks it out here and wins a ring.

– New York Post