Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Brooklyn Nets will sign Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and DeAndre Jordan as free agents this offseason.
Irving’s move to join the Nets was long expected and the two sides were reported to be meeting in New York to formalize their contract agreement over the weekend. Per The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the six-time All-Star has agreed to a four-year, $141 million deal with Brooklyn.
The Eastern Conference now has a superteam with Durant joining Irving in Brooklyn, even if the All-NBA forward’s future is a bit questionable after suffering a torn Achilles in the 2019 NBA Finals. They won’t be considered the team to beat prior to the season, with Durant likely to miss most if not all of the 2019-20 season. However, there isn’t another team in conference that has two players in the NBA’s top-10 or top-15 and that will make the Nets as dangerous as any team.
Durant’s decision could mark the end of the Golden State Warriors’ dynasty, as the two-time Finals MVP made Golden State a historically formidable squad that the league was scrambling to just compete with. The Warriors are going to still have the Splash Brothers — Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson — as well as Draymond Green but Durant made Golden State all but unbeatable and his departure is a major blow to the franchise.
There’s going to be as much parity in the NBA as there’s been in a long time with the Nets signing both Irving and Durant. For Boston, Irving’s time with the Celtics will be one of the most infamous chapters in the team’s history, as Uncle Drew often proved himself to be a difficult teammate and failed to bring any banners to TD Garden despite his talent.
Irving spent two seasons with the Celtics after Boston agreed to acquire him from the Cleveland Cavaliers via trade in 2017. Boston won 104 regular season games in that time, earning two top-four appearances in the 2019 Eastern Conference Playoffs.
