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Richard Jefferson: KD's next title 'most important one', thinks 'he will get it done' with Nets



Richard Jefferson knows a thing or two about playing in NBA Finals. He played in two with the New Jersey Nets and two with the Cleveland Cavaliers, winning the 2016 Larry O'Brien Trophy. 

  The all-time Net great compared LeBron James winning the title in his hometown in 2016, Steph Curry winning his fourth ring and first finals MVP this June, with how Kevin Durant will feel when he climbs that NBA mountaintop in Brooklyn. Brooklyn took a major step back last year with a part-time, unvaccinated Kyrie Irving causing a major distraction, while a disgruntled James Harden demanded a trade out of town.

Durant missed large chunks of the year with a sprained left MCL, while Ben Simmons, the centerpiece of the Harden trade never took the court with the Nets and underwent off-season back surgery.

It's looking like Brooklyn's championship window is shrinking, but in Jefferson's estimation, Durant will still get the job done that he and Irving wanted to accomplish when they teamed up in Brooklyn in the summer of 2019. 

A championship with the Nets would all but cement Durant as not only an all-time great player, but put him rightfully on the Mount Rushmore of NBA legends.

Nets' former coach Atkinson turns down Hornets' job, remains with GSW

 In a stunning move, Golden State assistant coach Kenny Atkinson has reversed course after being named the next head coach this past week of the Charlotte Hornets and decided to stay in the Bay Area.

The former Nets head man was a hot name on the head coaching market after an abrupt ending to his tenure as head coach that ran for three seasons in Brooklyn.

 Atkinson had an opportunity to take over a talented, but young roster on Charlotte with LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges headlining a talented roster.

While an opportunity to chase back to back titles with a Warriors squad looking to write a second chapter to their dynasty, Atkinson's decision comes as a shock for a man who is well deserving of a second opportunity as a head coach in the league.

Nets among oddsmakers favorites to win 2023 NBA title

According to Draft Kings Sportsbook, the Nets, Warriors, Celtics and Clippers have identical odds to hoist the Larry O'Brien next season. It's pretty shocking that the oddsmakers are so bullish on a Nets squad with so many question marks. Kyrie Irving is likely but not guaranteed to remain in Brooklyn as he can exercise a player option. But the two sides have yet to agree to a long-term extension ahead of the June 30 deadline.
Steve Nash has been a punching bag for the fan base and if the Nets get off to a slow start to the season, calls for his firing will grow even louder. 

Not to mention Ben Simmons hasn't played in an NBA game since June of 2021. Throw into the mix that the supporting cast around Irving and Kevin Durant could look vastly different as virtually all of Sean Marks' off-season additions didn't finish the year in a Nets' uniform. Seth Curry and Joe Harris will be returning from ankle surgery, while Mills has a player option he can exercise this month and Andre Drummond is a free agent. 

 Sounds like a heck of a lot of moving parts and more questions than answers for a supposed title favorite.

Nets' owner has hilarious reaction to 'Fake Klay Thompson' Banned by GSW

 


If you haven't heard about the antics of "Fake Klay Thompson" by now, you're missing out.

Prior to Game 5 at Chase Center between the Warriors and Celtics, YouTuber Dawson Gurley, otherwise known as Big Daws, waltzed right through security dressed in a full uniform as a Klay Thompson doppelganger.


Passing through five levels of security, including a metal detector, Big Daws made his way through the bowels of the arena and onto the court to get in some pregame shooting practice.

Finally, after doing everything but actually entering the locker room and playing in the game, Dawson was questioned by security about his credentials and only then was politely escorted out of the building.

To Dawson's dismay, he later received a letter from Warriors security banning him for life from games. While the man everyone knows as "Big Daws" noted that he actually paid $10,000 for game tickets and was never asked to show an ID when he impersonated Thompson.

It was no joking matter for the YouTube prankster, but Nets' owner Joe Tsai added a comedic twist to the whole ordeal.

Tsai's witty reply will draw a few laughs, but until the Nets get their own house and roster in order, they will continue to be the butt of NBA pundits' jokes.

Kyrie Irving, Patty Mills player option deadline looming




By no later than June 29, both Kyrie Irving and Patty Mills will need to decide if they'll opt-in to their contracts. Otherwise, the potential exists to negotiate a long-term deal with the Nets, become unrestricted free agents or in the least likely of scenarios, agree to a sign and trade route.

Mills is due $6.2 million and Irving 36.9 by opting in to their respective deals. No, a divorce been the organization and these two players isn't imminent, but there's not exactly been surefire discussions that either player will assuredly be back next year.

Sean Marks has his work cut out for him. Mills was the anti-Kyrie last season. The Nets guard was available for all games, a team-centric leader, but with an undersized frame that gives little defensive resistance to go along with him showing signs of fatigue during the regular season after logging heavy minutes in Irving's absence.  Retaining Mills to an already small and defensively challenged backcourt composed of Seth Curry and possibly Irving does present some concerns.

Reports surfaced over the past few weeks that Marks and the Nets are reluctant to hitch their wagons to Irving long-term without knowing he's going to make a full-time commitment to the club. Vaccine compliance aside, Irving has missed significant playing time during his Nets' tenure for a multitude of reasons including: unexcused absences to be with family, citing mental health issues for missing games, on-court injuries that sidelined him, along with his refusal to comply with local vaccine mandates in New York City and Canada last year.

Irving, whether he intended to or not, became a distraction for the club. Even upon returning after the Nets reversed course and allowed him to play part-time,  come playoff time, the lack of conditioning and game reps saw him fade in the final three games of the first round sweep by the Celtics.

It's unlikely Irving will opt-in to his deal as he'll be looking for a three-or four-year extension to coincide with Durant being under contract in Brooklyn.

Irving has shown he's willing to pay the ultimate price by missing games, forfeiting $380,000 game checks with each contest missed and impacting the championship trajectory of his team's season. Even if Marks makes Irving's deal an incentive-laden agreement, it will do little to dissuade Irving from doing what he's always done: marching to the beat of his own drum.

Durant pushes back on critics questioning his leadership ability

 


Kevin Durant is the kind of player that lets his play do the talking, He's not the "ra-ra" type to give fiery pregame speeches nor is he known to get in his teammates' faces for making a mistake.

So, of course on the heels of a heroic playoff performance from his former teammate, Steph Curry, the Durant haters were out challenging his leadership capabilities.


The Brooklyn Nets superstar isn't afraid to mix it up with detractors on Twitter by setting the record straight.

One of the more interesting tidbits from Durant came when he mentioned that the team's coaches and assistant coaches were the primary source of leadership in his estimation.

That shouldn't necessarily be a slight to Steve Nash, but questions are mounting about his ability to reel in an non-committal Kyrie Irving and run an offense that maximizes his roster's talent and a defense that masks the team's deficiencies.

Only time will tell if Durant or Nash will spearhead a Brooklyn title push, but the more success  Golden State and Curry have, the more critics will attack Durant and the Nets.


Curry's playoff numbers against C's are eye popping compared to Durant's



 The Brooklyn Nets remain the only NBA team to be swept out of the 2022 NBA playoffs.



Think about that.  A team led by Kevin Durant and with Kyrie Irving as his running mate failed to not only get out of the first round, but to win a single playoff game.

It's pretty astonishing, but if you watched the turmoil of the Nets' regular season, in the end, it wasn't all that shocking.

Durant struggled mightily with turnovers as he was blitzed by constant double teams directed by Ime Udoka and the Celtics. Steve Nash and his staff failed to make any adjustments and the results spoke for themselves.

Flash forward a few series wins later for Boston and an enjoyable vacation in Greece for Durant, Steph Curry is slicing and dicing up the Celtics defense that stymied this era's greatest scorer.

Admittedly, Curry is not facing constant double teams like Durant and he's feasting on drop coverage that gives him just enough airspace to launch his lethal 3-pointers. The Nets roster construction and supporting cast is vastly different from the Warriors and thus Udoka has defended them in a completely different way.

However, the league's greatest players need to be problem solvers on the court. While Durant received very little help from his teammates, his individual numbers and the team's success pales in comparison to what Curry and Golden State are doing to Boston right now in the NBA Finals.

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