The Paper's reporter Hu Jie
A year ago, in the summer, Durant was still an idol, when he was only one toe away from the Finals, and after the game he congratulated the Bucks with a long sigh of relief, and his back was dashing and tall.
Now Durant is still staying in the Nets, but the distance between him and the winner in life is much farther than a year ago, and the 53-day "Where Did Durant Go" finally turned this idol drama into a domestic mother-in-law drama.
"Build a stable team that brings a championship to Brooklyn." The Nets' official announcement clearly delineates the future direction, but everyone knows that in the past year, the Nets have never had time to think about the future, they are just solving the problems that arise at the top one by one.
Durant's stay in the team is only one of these problems solved, and it is not the last.
Durant will also join forces with Irving.
Durant's mind you don't guess
The day before the Nets released the official statement, The Athletic broke the news that the god Charania broke the inside story, saying that many teams, including the Grizzlies and the Hawks, had once again joined the "Durant Scramble", and that a third of the teams had substantive communication with the Nets.
Nets general manager Sean Max then issued a statement: "Coach Nash and I, as well as the boss Tsai Chongxin and his wife, after talking with Durant and Durant's partner Rich Kleiman, decided to continue our partnership." ”
"We're going to focus on basketball together, build a long-lasting team, and bring a championship trophy to Brooklyn."
Whether this is the biggest Waterloo of Charania's journalistic career is difficult to determine, but it is certain that this incident shocked the entire basketball media circle - ESPN immediately invited their expert team to interpret the matter, "The Athletic" also published three articles in a row to sort out the ins and outs of the matter, and the hot search on social media is the basic operation.
Interestingly, Sam Armick, another reporter for The Athletic, began to recall the last time he saw Sean Max, saying that on the sidelines of the Summer League in Las Vegas, Max and several other team executives had a good conversation and occasionally greeted acquaintances who passed by.
"He looks relaxed, peaceful and friendly, not at all like a general manager who was forced out of the team by his superstar just a few days ago."
The more detailed this "I had expected" after-the-horse cannon, the more difficult it is to outline the true appearance of the story. Like the story that goes back 53 days now, you still don't know why Durant forced the Palace Nets to trade.
ESPN compared what happened to the Nets to the 2007 farce between Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, but Kobe's motivation is clear and clear, "I want a team with helpers." ”
But pulling the motive back to Durant, his reason seems to be only the word "dissatisfaction", and no one knows who to dislike.
After all, some media said that Durant forced the Nets because the team was unwilling to give his good brother Irving a maximum salary, and then someone gave the opposite answer, "Durant is fed up with Irving's style of acting and hopes to leave the Nets to go to a team that can win the championship." ”
Even the most important scene of the second forced palace, saying that Durant told Tsai Chongxin to choose between him or general manager Max and head coach Nash, sounds like a basketball version of "Who do you choose when I fall into the water with your mother?" ”
And if you look at Durant's social media "line daily", the words of ridicule and mutual hatred always reveal the loneliness of "you don't understand me at all".
As for whether the outside world really does not understand Durant, or whether Durant does not want the outside world to understand him, it does not matter, after all, every step of Durant's operation this summer has been without warning.
Durant's mind you don't guess, guess and guess can't understand.
Durant had also been unhappy with Nash before.
The easiest way to go
When the Nets announced that Durant was staying behind, nets reporter Brian Lewis added: "It should be noted that the Nets are not just convincing Durant to give the team a year, they plan a long-term cooperation. ”
A supergiant who insisted on going twice and chose to stay in the team was not a simple thing, but the Nets did it.
"Nets fans should thank your lucky star Gobert." Nets reporter Matt Brooks sighed. The Nets' approach was simple, but it was just a trade with Gobert, driving up the price of Durant to the point where no team could match.
After all, the league's draft picks were inflationary throughout the summer — Desontay Murray traded gallinari and four first rounds, and Gobert got back five players + four first rounds.
Interestingly, the Timberwolves traded to Get Gobert's deal the day after Durant forced the Nets to do so, and when the deal was made, journalist Kenny Smith shouted directly: "So, I think Durant can get back 10 first-round picks?" ”
Next season, Durant will have more Simmons, who can't shoot.
So the Nets followed the market, asking for an All-Star level player + team main force + multi-round draft picks, even if the Celtics put Jaylen Brown on the table, but the Nets' reply was only one sentence: "You give too little!" ”
The Ringer reporter Kevin O'Connor stressed that since mid-July, the Nets have not had serious deal negotiations with any team, their asking price is very high, and no team's offer makes it necessary for both sides to sit down and talk.
Such a transaction also made Durant understand that even if the deal is concluded, he will face the dilemma of having no help. Meanwhile, Irving has honestly returned to the team this summer after touching a nose in the player market, ready to prove himself again.
Back to the Nets became the easiest path for Durant to follow.
Although Durant would not consider the degree of difficulty before making a choice, otherwise he would not have chosen to force the palace to the management, but in the thorny jungle, the lonely and sensitive Durant gave up his stubbornness.
The Nets won, they won
After 53 days of "Where did Durant go" dust settled, ESPN's roundtable threw up the question, "Who is the biggest loser in this storm?" ”
Two of the five experts answered for Durant, one for the Celtics, one for Jaylen Brown and one for the NBA offseason. Whatever the answer, experts have at least one consensus: The Nets are by no means losers.
Not only is it not a loser, it is simply a win.
In 2019, Durant joined the Nets in a rather peculiar way - according to the boss Cai Chongxin, Durant himself announced that he would join Brooklyn, and had neither talked to Max nor communicated with Boss Cai before this. It wasn't until after the announcement that Durant approached the Nets management to talk about the specific details of the franchise.
From the beginning of the cooperation between the two sides, Durant seems to have a sense of "condescending" overlook. Since then, the Nets have always played the role of "licking the dog" in order to meet the superstar nash, the trade was obtained by Harden, and in the face of the part-time player Irving's choice to compromise, the Nets management has always played the role of "licking the dog".
Until paying the league's luxury tax, second only to the Warriors, but becoming the only team to be swept this season, in the "lick to the end of nothing" environment, the Nets chose to live a different way.
So at the team's season wrap-up meeting, Max said, "What we want is people who are eager to come here, to put the whole on a higher footing than individuals, to be able to play selfless, team basketball, and then to be able to play at any time." ”
The Nets management, who has been showing weakness in the star relationship, suddenly hardened, naturally stemming from the boss Tsai Chongxin, "I would rather have a team that can only win 40 games, struggle in the play-offs, but try to play to make him proud, rather than a team that is more talented but cannot make him proud." ”
Such a statement was changed to the 53 days of confrontation with Durant, which became the content left by Tsai Chongxin on social media after the second forced palace, "The Management and coaching staff of the Nets will have my support, and we will make the final decision based on the interests of the Nets." ”
Although the process is full of twists and turns, but from the result - Irving did not get the long contract he wanted, but he participated in the team's training in the summer; Durant forced the palace to fail and eventually stayed on the team.
After Durant confirmed his stay, the Nets' odds for winning the championship soared to fourth, tied with the Clippers; According to the ticket-buying website TickPick, they sold more basketball tennis tickets today than all the tickets they have sold since the new season schedule was announced.
Regardless of whether the team can win the championship next season, or what moths will appear later, at least for now, the Nets have won again.
Editor-in-Charge: Ascendas
Proofreader: Luan Meng