Kevin Durant opens up on Nets rebuild before helping Suns rout ex-team
NY Post
It was Kevin Durant’s trade request that officially ended the Nets’ window of contention two years ago. Durant has watched their delayed rebuild from afar and insists it’s heading in the right direction.
Brooklyn took a 108-84 loss to Durant’s Suns before 17,077 at Barclays Center — where he, Kyrie Irving and James Harden once formed a potent but ill-fated Big 3.
Durant asked out at the 2023 trade deadline, the last star out the door.
He returned with the Suns on Wednesday, recording 24 points and eight rebounds along with providing well-wishes and confidence that the Nets’ latest rebuild will bear fruit.
Brooklyn fans can only hope, after watching their team fall to 14-31.
Nic Claxton was the only full-time starter available — with Cam Johnson, Cam Thomas, D’Angelo Russell and Ben Simmons all hurt.
In a different time, in a season to come, we may be inclined to wax poetic about the way this one played out. In a different time, in a season to come, the Nets will be seeking to stack wins and not losses, will be fighting for playoff seeding and not for a few extra ping-pong balls in the draft lottery this spring.
The NBA has an All-Star Game problem. Despite Adam Silver’s efforts to inject juice into the February showcase — including a format alteration to the 2025 game that is too confusing to attempt to understand before it’s inevitably changed again — there’s little interest in watching teams eschew defense for a series of layup line highlights. That also means the most entertaining part of the NBA All-Star Game is just like the Pro Bowl — debating over who should get a spot.