As the offseason days accumulate with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving nonetheless on the identical roster, so do the probabilities of the Nets operating it again subsequent season.
It could seem unbelievable given Durant’s commerce request, which hasn’t been defined by the longer term Hall of Famer. But the Nets nonetheless have Durant beneath contract till 2026, offering them with the leverage to threaten the concept of maintaining him into the season.
Kenny Anderson, who wore No. 7 as a Nets All-Star lengthy earlier than Durant, believes it’s the neatest strategy for his former group.
At least give it a run till the February commerce deadline.
“I say stay, KD stay, build around him, and they could be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference – because they got Kevin Durant,” Anderson advised the Daily News. “But it’s tough with the money. You got all these guys making a lot of money. It’s tough to move them and that nature. So what I think is going to happen is they’ll play half the season. I think they’ll open up and they got to play. And Kyrie has to play extremely well the first half of the season and then they might get traded.”
Coincidentally, Anderson, 51, is a topic of Durant’s newest documentary, ‘NYC Point Gods,’ which streams July 29 on Showtime. It’s a nostalgic take a look at the glory years of the City’s greatest playmakers, weaving on the street tradition of the period with a glorified view of Mark Jackson, Kenny Smith, Rod Strickland, God Shammgod, Stephon Marbury and Anderson, amongst others.
Durant is listed as a producer together with his agent, Rich Kleiman. It’s their greatest try at a basketball documentary, though an viewers exterior of the 5 boroughs could discover it tougher to grasp the hype.
“Everyone knows an NYC point guard when they see them,” Durant stated in an announcement, “and the point gods of this film were instrumental in changing the game for everyone.”
Anderson was arguably probably the most celebrated of the bunch in highschool at Archbishop Molloy in Queens, the place he emerged because the Gatorade Player of the Year. He was enthusiastic about getting drafted by the Nets in 1991, reasonably than the Knicks, as a result of it meant much less stress.
Other homegrown level guards – specifically Marbury, Jackson, Strickland and Kemba Walker – have been with the Knicks however discovered larger success elsewhere.
“I was happy I didn’t play for the Knicks, to tell you truth,” stated Anderson, who’s now the coach of Fisk University after recovering from a stroke suffered in 2019. “I didn’t need that additional stress on me being from New York. I went to New Jersey and it was nice. For some motive if you go to the Knicks, you get all the eye, however you bought to carry out. If not, they’re going to speak about you and kill you.
“You got to produce, especially if you’re a New Yorker. So there’s a lot of pressure that comes with that.”
But Anderson and the Nets additionally didn’t understand their potential. There have been points with off the courtroom and the tragedy of Drazen Petrovic, the All-Star taking pictures guard who died in a automobile accident in 1993.
“It would’ve been a lot different if he hadn’t died,” stated Anderson. “We would’ve had our same crew. Kenny Anderson, Derrick Coleman, Drazen Petrovic, Chris Morris. We would’ve had a chance to do it. I don’t know how because Michael Jordan was still in the league. Orlando was pretty good (with Shaquille O’Neal), Cleveland was pretty good (with Mark Price and Brad Daughtery). But I think we would’ve been right there. Because anything in life, once you get it, you learn from it. So we would’ve definitely been a problem for the Eastern Conference. We would’ve been on fire. I believe that.”
Now the Nets face extra potential questions of ‘what-could-have-been’ with the uncertainty surrounding Durant and Irving. Anderson, now only a fan, is hoping for one more go-around with two of the league’s prime gamers.
“I don’t care nothing about the Knicks. I’m from New York, I never liked the Knicks,” Anderson stated. “My household, all of them love the Knicks, however they liked me after I performed for the Nets. So I’m pissed off – like man, we acquired Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, they’re all pissed off, they need to get traded. So it’s a tricky state of affairs to be in.
“But if I was them, I’d say, let’s give it one more run. Give one more run at it.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com