MIAMI — The Nets lost any chance of winning the NBA title this season the moment they traded Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Nobody was surprised to see the retooling team limp into the playoffs and get swept out in the first round.
The shock was seeing their former stars’ postseason implosions.
Irving, who was traded to a Mavericks team that had been in the Western Conference Finals last season, missed the postseason altogether.
Dallas was far worse with him than without him.
And Durant got the move he wanted to the Suns, who became the betting favorite to win the West and reach the NBA Finals.
But they crashed out with a humbling second-round exit Thursday night that Durant called “embarrassing.”
“It sucked. It was a bad feeling. Embarrassing,” Durant said after the Suns’ 125-100 loss to the Nuggets in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals.
“It’s hard right now to see what the future will hold for our team, but we’ve got a good foundation, good infrastructure. We can build on and move on from this and learn from it and get better from it.”
Phoenix, which had reached the NBA Finals two years ago and had the best regular-season record in the league in 2021-22, was considered a ready-made contender with Durant on board.
“There’s a limit. You can certainly try and convince guys. … But at the end of the day, I think this works out for all parties included,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said at the time of the trade.
“At the same time, to be able to move Kevin to a place where he’ll have success and they will enter into their championship window; and for us to bring back these two players in that particular trade and the draft assets, that gives us a clear pathway now to continue to rebuild, and not set the reset button. … This has given us a clear pathway on how to continue this.”
The Nets will continue with the two players, Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, and haul of picks they got for Durant — and with a younger, healthier roster that replaces upside with drama-free reliability.
It’s unfair to immediately rush to declare a winner or loser in any trade — unless it delivers a title.
The thing is, that (or at least returning to the Finals) was the bar for Phoenix.
The Suns wanted Durant last summer and were willing to give up Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks, a swap and another player, but owner Robert Sarver, fined by the NBA for racist and sexist actions, considered dealing Bridges a bridge too far.
But once Mat Ishbia — who counts Nets owner Joe Tsai as a mentor — accelerated his purchase of the team to push the Durant deal through, Marks was able to pry Bridges away.
Marks also acquired Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and picks for the enigmatic Irving, who was 8-12 with the Mavericks and could leave Dallas for nothing.
That pivot under pressure is probably why Marks actually got a first-place vote for NBA Executive of the Year — one of only seven GMs to do so — and is regarded as having salvaged an unsalvageable situation.
Durant might be the best scorer on the planet, but he has missed 182 games to injury the past four seasons.
Now, as Nets fans engage in schadenfreude regarding the Suns and Mavericks, the front office can start retooling in earnest.
Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving teams' implosions silver lining for Nets - New York Post
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