WOJ BOMB: KD, TJ to Suns for Cam Johnson, Bridges, Crowder, 4 unprotected 1sts

[MrDollarBills]

Woke up to the news... wow.

Really sad KD is gone, as is our shot at chip any time soon.

Unless we were trading for another star when Kyrie left, what did ownership/front office think would happen?

This era of Nets basketbal has got to be the most frustrating ever since we had all the pieces, but just couldn't come together due to a number of factors like injuries + drama + BAD luck. Shows you the importance of OGs like Pat Riley, Pop, etc.

Personally, I would have 100% maxed Kyrie, ONLY because it would have mean we keep KD in BK.

Kyrie is who he is off the court, not the most likeable guy, agreed, but dude is dynamite on the court.

We won 18/20 games like 3 weeks ago and everything just got blown to smithereens while the Rockets still own our pick going forward

I'm not super mad at what we get back, not great, but not terrible. At least we have a decent starting point for the rebuild, but just too soon to start thinking about that with this sour taste in my mouth. It's going to take some time to get over this bull.

Honestly it sounds great.

But just imagine more of this for another 4 years. I just don't see us winning as long as Kyrie isn't serious about basketball.

More Kyrie scandals were coming. Then the front office gets more pissed off. KD demands a trade again.

It was the same **** over and over again. It wasn't worth it anymore.

It wasn't worth it the moment Kyrie refused to get vaccinated. That should have been the end.

Oh well, he's gone, KD's gone. we have a bright future and some good young players who are itching to get into their expanded roles.

We can send Kyrie a thank you card when he destroys the Mavericks and gifts us a top 10 lotto pick when Luka hauls ass.

[NetsWorld]

I kind of like where kd has ended up. Ayton has been perennially unhappy there. Cp3 looks like he has maybe a year left of starter level basketball. Kd is 35 and has at least a month of injured every season. Booker has never had to play second fiddle to any scorer on the team. These picks could get juicy in a few years time.

Yeah Phoenix looks like a ticking time bomb to me.

They could win it this year. But they literally have no bench right now or anyone to play defense.

They could win the West by default. But to me the Nuggets are better. As are the Warriors if healthy.

After this year it could be rough. We know KD always gets injured. CP3 is basically done at this point.

And then Ayton seems to just not be consistent.

Marks did to the Suns what the Rockets did to us in hindsight. Hate to break to Suns fans but this is year is their best shot at winning it all. Few reasons for this is because CP3 is breaking down and they lost a ton of depth. Now that you have CP3 and Booker back and KD back soon, they need to capitalize now. Could they? Yes, but their window is much smaller than the Nets was two years ago and injuries cannot be a part of the equation. The only positive going in their favor is Booker is home grown talent in Phoenix....Which we never had.

The only thing I will say is the "SHOULD BE CHAMPIONS 2021' banner is the Nets true championship.

[NetsWorld]

Also, I'm not hating on KD. Actually I wish he will win a ring in PHX and will cheer for him to do so.

He was true pro that kept it 100. Much respect to him.

Fuc* PHX fans. I just want KD to win a ring this year along with CP3. Will be so deserved.

CP3/KD deserve it but I will always hold KD accountable for enabling Kyrie's behavior here. Man oh man, if we found a way to get Bridges without sacrificing KD. Woulda been beautiful.

KD stuck to his end of the gentlemen's agreement with Marks and Tsai, and I'm okay with that. Because of that, we got an incredible haul for him.

No hard feelings from me, but I will not remember his time here fondly.

I won't be fond of him either because their talent level WARRANTED A CHAMPIONSHIP. I am not angry at Tsai for adding that in as a stipulation. Tsai's anger, which sadly painted Kyrie as a victim, was all a result of Kyrie's actions and costing Tsai and the Nets tremendously. Tsai asking for a ring from Kai is fair; Kyrie never took part or responsibility for **** but mark my words, he will reflect on this moment in a few years time and regret it again like he did with Boston. Tsai endured three years of clownry and lunacy before calling it quits.

I know earlier in the year we had a small spat which we got over quickly but that was only because I wanted Kyrie to play so the Nets can win as many games as possible and build chemistry, but believe me, now that we had false hope, in hindsight, what Tsai did to this **** was warranted.

[TheNetsFan]

Read on Twitter

?s=20&t=Fn3xuPNEl6H1MjAypZC_YA

Honestly crazy all the dumb decisions both Kyrie and KD made.

You could tell KD heavily pressured them to trade for Harden. And then Harden didn't even really want to be there.

Like total dumb move from KD unless you knew he wanted to resign.

I saw this the other day, and this is a big part of the problem. Prokhorov would have said "Talk to Sean." He let the basketball guys make all the basketball decisions. Tsai should not allow himself to be injected into these things. It undermines the GM & the coach.

[MrDollarBills]

CP3/KD deserve it but I will always hold KD accountable for enabling Kyrie's behavior here. Man oh man, if we found a way to get Bridges without sacrificing KD. Woulda been beautiful.

KD stuck to his end of the gentlemen's agreement with Marks and Tsai, and I'm okay with that. Because of that, we got an incredible haul for him.

No hard feelings from me, but I will not remember his time here fondly.

I won't be fond of him either because their talent level WARRANTED A CHAMPIONSHIP. I am not angry at Tsai for adding that in as a stipulation. Tsai's anger, which sadly painted Kyrie as a victim, was all a result of Kyrie's actions and costing Tsai and the Nets tremendously. Tsai asking for a ring from Kai is fair; Kyrie never took part or responsibility for **** but mark my words, he will reflect on this moment in a few years time and regret it again like he did with Boston. Tsai endured three years of clownry and lunacy before calling it quits.

I know earlier in the year we had a small spat which we got over quickly but that was only because I wanted Kyrie to play so the Nets can win as many games as possible and build chemistry, but believe me, now that we had false hope, in hindsight, what Tsai did to this **** was warranted.

Tsai owns responsibility as well.

He doesn't know when to fall back. He shouldn't be getting involved in all this extra stuff with players, that is for the GM to handle. Just sign the checks and smile for the camera when it comes time to raise a trophy. Micromanaging owners are the devil in pro sports.

Also, Tsai was off base by trying to include a championship as apart of Kyrie's contract stipulations. It should have been strictly milestone bonuses for games played each season. Something simple to incentivize the idiot to show up for work. I couldn't in good conscience say that Kyrie's pay should rest on the team winning a title, to have a title run things have to be near perfect and that was never happening here with this team's luck.

But either way, **** Kyrie. He's an ass hole and frankly, not as good of a human being as I thought he was, and this isn't basketball related. That crap that he retweeted from Jason Whitlock was appalling, and for a guy who claims to be a champion for Black women, he's a disgrace.

[MrDollarBills]

Read on Twitter

?s=20&t=Fn3xuPNEl6H1MjAypZC_YA

Honestly crazy all the dumb decisions both Kyrie and KD made.

You could tell KD heavily pressured them to trade for Harden. And then Harden didn't even really want to be there.

Like total dumb move from KD unless you knew he wanted to resign.

I saw this the other day, and this is a big part of the problem. Prokhorov would have said "Talk to Sean." He let the basketball guys make all the basketball decisions. Tsai should not allow himself to be injected into these things. It undermines the GM & the coach.

KD will always own his part in this team's failure. I appreciate that he was a good soldier at the end, but that's where it ends for me. I won't wish him good luck, but good health.

[NetsWorld]

Read on Twitter

?s=20&t=Fn3xuPNEl6H1MjAypZC_YA

Honestly crazy all the dumb decisions both Kyrie and KD made.

You could tell KD heavily pressured them to trade for Harden. And then Harden didn't even really want to be there.

Like total dumb move from KD unless you knew he wanted to resign.

I saw this the other day, and this is a big part of the problem. Prokhorov would have said "Talk to Sean." He let the basketball guys make all the basketball decisions. Tsai should not allow himself to be injected into these things. It undermines the GM & the coach.

This is exactly the reason why Sean said what he said in after the season press conference last May. Sean was visibly pissed then and visibly upset when he knew KD/Kai were coming back in September's media day press conference. Marks wanted no affiliation to them anymore. And yet the Twitter folks, including Scoop, who I respect, was also on KD's and Kai's side. ScoopB is a legit source and knows the players very well and won't bull but he's wrong in avoiding Kyrie/KD taking accountability and blaming Marks/Tsai for everything.

[MrDollarBills]

Read on Twitter

?s=20&t=Fn3xuPNEl6H1MjAypZC_YA

Honestly crazy all the dumb decisions both Kyrie and KD made.

You could tell KD heavily pressured them to trade for Harden. And then Harden didn't even really want to be there.

Like total dumb move from KD unless you knew he wanted to resign.

I saw this the other day, and this is a big part of the problem. Prokhorov would have said "Talk to Sean." He let the basketball guys make all the basketball decisions. Tsai should not allow himself to be injected into these things. It undermines the GM & the coach.

This is exactly the reason why Sean said what he said in after the season press conference last May. Sean was visibly pissed then and visibly upset when he knew KD/Kai were coming back in September's media day press conference. Marks wanted no affiliation to them anymore. And yet the Twitter folks, including Scoop, who I respect, was also on KD's and Kai's side. ScoopB is a legit source and knows the players very well and won't bull but he's wrong in avoiding Kyrie/KD taking accountability and blaming Marks/Tsai for everything.

Access journalism is becoming a problem in pro sports. Dudes are now mouthpieces for the athletes and teams. Woj is Marks' mouthpiece, Shams is Kyrie's. There was an awful article written by Kristian Winfield that was clearly hand fed to him by Kyrie's camp trying to slander Marks and Simmons. It's gross.

[Hello Brooklyn]

Read on Twitter

?s=20&t=Fn3xuPNEl6H1MjAypZC_YA

Honestly crazy all the dumb decisions both Kyrie and KD made.

You could tell KD heavily pressured them to trade for Harden. And then Harden didn't even really want to be there.

Like total dumb move from KD unless you knew he wanted to resign.

I saw this the other day, and this is a big part of the problem. Prokhorov would have said "Talk to Sean." He let the basketball guys make all the basketball decisions. Tsai should not allow himself to be injected into these things. It undermines the GM & the coach.

That is not true.

Prokhorov forced us into cost cutting mode the year after we traded for KG, Pierce.

Thats why we couldn't resign Pierce or make any good moves after that.

I have my issues with Tsai. But you guys have to stop acting like Prokhorov was a good owner either. He hired Billy King for **** sake.

[Hello Brooklyn]

People keep talking about giving up Durant like hes LeBron in his prime.

Guy is getting crazy overrated.

Are we forgetting that the guy routinely missed a third of a season?

That he **** the bed in the playoffs last year for no actual reason?

That he is 34 years old?

That he is the worst leader in sports? Tied his fate to Kyrie and never had him accountable.

The guy was bringing up First Round exists because of his psychotic boyfriend. At what cost was it worth keeping him?

We never won anything. We were a second round exit once. Even the Deron Williams Nets managed that.

There is no reason to think we wouldn't be a second round exit again with all of Kyrie's antics and Durant's glass knees.

The monster haul we got back of course made it worth it to move on. This team won't win a Championship. But at least they are serious about basketball.

I never had fun rooting for KD-Kyrie. Not once.

[Netaman]

Here's the tick tock on how the whole deal went down from Windhorst and Ramona Shelbourne.

Last summer the Suns were instantly identified as a possible fit in a Durant trade because they had everything Brooklyn would need: all of their future draft picks plus a group of multitalented young wing players the Nets could use as the foundation of a rebuild.

Back then the Suns had been cautious; they recoiled at the price the Nets wanted and internally were concerned over the huge financial cost for bringing Durant in. Marks and Suns president James Jones had met in Las Vegas during the NBA's summer league; it was not a productive session, so the sides walked away.

But Tsai knew Ishbia personally, and they liked each other. When Ishbia was in the yearslong process of looking to become an NBA team owner, he had attended several Nets games as a guest of Tsai's to see how Brooklyn did business. They had each other's phone number. Tsai had just cast the Nets franchise's vote in support of Ishbia's purchase.

That is where this Durant megadeal started: an owner-to-owner call on Monday afternoon as Tsai told his new colleague that his first-ballot Hall of Fame superstar wanted to be in Phoenix.

When Marks followed up with Jones, though, the ask was just as sky-high as it was last summer. It was take-a-deep-breath high:

Four unprotected first-round picks. No negotiation.

An unprotected pick swap in 2028, likely after Durant is retired. No negotiation.

Mikal Bridges, the forward who hadn't missed a game in three seasons, is a lock for All-Defensive team, is having the best offensive season in his career and is deeply loved by everyone in the organization. No negotiation.

Cameron Johnson, the long defensive specialist who can defend multiple possessions and handle the ball. No negotiation.

James, of course, tried to negotiate. Would the Nets take another player besides Bridges because the Suns really, really did not want to trade him. As it turns out, that specific request last summer had essentially killed the deal at the meeting in Vegas.

No, Marks said, Bridges had to be in it.

What about three first-rounders rather than four? What about some protection on the later picks? Hard no.

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/insider/story/_/id/35631094/how-suns-deal-kevin-durant-came-together-fell-apart-shocked-nba

[TheNetsFan]

Read on Twitter

?s=20&t=Fn3xuPNEl6H1MjAypZC_YA

Honestly crazy all the dumb decisions both Kyrie and KD made.

You could tell KD heavily pressured them to trade for Harden. And then Harden didn't even really want to be there.

Like total dumb move from KD unless you knew he wanted to resign.

I saw this the other day, and this is a big part of the problem. Prokhorov would have said "Talk to Sean." He let the basketball guys make all the basketball decisions. Tsai should not allow himself to be injected into these things. It undermines the GM & the coach.

That is not true.

Prokhorov forced us into cost cutting mode the year after we traded for KG, Pierce.

Thats why we couldn't resign Pierce or make any good moves after that.

I have my issues with Tsai. But you guys have to stop acting like Prokhorov was a good owner either. He hired Billy King for **** sake.

Pierce was cooked. KG was in severe decline. You don't keep throwing good money after bad. It would have been asinine to give Pierce the deal he wanted given his current and future production. Prokhorov was paying then record luxury tax from that team, but you can't do that for a first or second round exit.

Thorn tagged Billy King as his replacement. Prokhorov was NBA dumb. He didn't have a rolodex of potential NBA GMs to interview. Most owners have a front office in place when they buy a franchise & have time to get their feet wet. Because Thorn was leaving, Prokhorov did not have that.

[MrDollarBills]

Here's the tick tock on how the whole deal went down from Windhorst and Ramona Shelbourne.

Last summer the Suns were instantly identified as a possible fit in a Durant trade because they had everything Brooklyn would need: all of their future draft picks plus a group of multitalented young wing players the Nets could use as the foundation of a rebuild.

Back then the Suns had been cautious; they recoiled at the price the Nets wanted and internally were concerned over the huge financial cost for bringing Durant in. Marks and Suns president James Jones had met in Las Vegas during the NBA's summer league; it was not a productive session, so the sides walked away.

But Tsai knew Ishbia personally, and they liked each other. When Ishbia was in the yearslong process of looking to become an NBA team owner, he had attended several Nets games as a guest of Tsai's to see how Brooklyn did business. They had each other's phone number. Tsai had just cast the Nets franchise's vote in support of Ishbia's purchase.

That is where this Durant megadeal started: an owner-to-owner call on Monday afternoon as Tsai told his new colleague that his first-ballot Hall of Fame superstar wanted to be in Phoenix.

When Marks followed up with Jones, though, the ask was just as sky-high as it was last summer. It was take-a-deep-breath high:

Four unprotected first-round picks. No negotiation.

An unprotected pick swap in 2028, likely after Durant is retired. No negotiation.

Mikal Bridges, the forward who hadn't missed a game in three seasons, is a lock for All-Defensive team, is having the best offensive season in his career and is deeply loved by everyone in the organization. No negotiation.

Cameron Johnson, the long defensive specialist who can defend multiple possessions and handle the ball. No negotiation.

James, of course, tried to negotiate. Would the Nets take another player besides Bridges because the Suns really, really did not want to trade him. As it turns out, that specific request last summer had essentially killed the deal at the meeting in Vegas.

No, Marks said, Bridges had to be in it.

What about three first-rounders rather than four? What about some protection on the later picks? Hard no.

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/insider/story/_/id/35631094/how-suns-deal-kevin-durant-came-together-fell-apart-shocked-nba

and here's what happened when KD left to meet with Sean Marks

When Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman requested a meeting with Sean Marks less than 24 hours after the Brooklyn Nets traded it was described as "somber." Durant told Marks he wanted to be traded and specifically asked to be dealt to the Phoenix Suns. Durant, Kleiman and Marks then Facetimed Joe Tsai, who was at his home in San Diego.

Durant wanted the situation to remain private as he didn't want a bidding war and days of being the target of speculation.

"At some point, there's just a fatigue," one source close to the process said. "There's just too much drama. Too much uncertainty."

Durant told the Nets he'd play out the rest of the 22-23 season if they couldn't find a way to execute the trade with the Suns and he'd find a way to get excited about their new additions in Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith from the Dallas Mavericks.

The Durant deal started as an owner-to-owner call on Monday afternoon as Tsai told Mat Ishbia that Durant wanted a trade to the Suns. Ishbia had attended several Nets' games over the years as a guest of Tsai and the two had grown to like each other.

Marks and James Jones began working on the details of a trade, and the Nets never came off their asking price.

First of all, kudos to Sean Marks for holding firm on that steep price that PHO had to pay for KD.

Second...KD is good with me. He handled this properly, kept it quiet, and behaved like an adult about it unlike his piece of crap friend. We got a sweet haul for him that put us in a better position then when he got here.

Good luck to the Suns. They did us a solid.

[MrDollarBills]

I saw this the other day, and this is a big part of the problem. Prokhorov would have said "Talk to Sean." He let the basketball guys make all the basketball decisions. Tsai should not allow himself to be injected into these things. It undermines the GM & the coach.

That is not true.

Prokhorov forced us into cost cutting mode the year after we traded for KG, Pierce.

Thats why we couldn't resign Pierce or make any good moves after that.

I have my issues with Tsai. But you guys have to stop acting like Prokhorov was a good owner either. He hired Billy King for **** sake.

Pierce was cooked. KG was in severe decline. You don't keep throwing good money after bad. It would have been asinine to give Pierce the deal he wanted given his current and future production. Prokhorov was paying then record luxury tax from that team, but you can't do that for a first or second round exit.

Thorn tagged Billy King as his replacement. Prokhorov was NBA dumb. He didn't have a rolodex of potential NBA GMs to interview. Most owners have a front office in place when they buy a franchise & have time to get their feet wet. Because Thorn was leaving, Prokhorov did not have that.

Thorn hired King and then dipped to Philly. Bastard

[MGrand15]

I saw this the other day, and this is a big part of the problem. Prokhorov would have said "Talk to Sean." He let the basketball guys make all the basketball decisions. Tsai should not allow himself to be injected into these things. It undermines the GM & the coach.

This is exactly the reason why Sean said what he said in after the season press conference last May. Sean was visibly pissed then and visibly upset when he knew KD/Kai were coming back in September's media day press conference. Marks wanted no affiliation to them anymore. And yet the Twitter folks, including Scoop, who I respect, was also on KD's and Kai's side. ScoopB is a legit source and knows the players very well and won't bull but he's wrong in avoiding Kyrie/KD taking accountability and blaming Marks/Tsai for everything.

Access journalism is becoming a problem in pro sports. Dudes are now mouthpieces for the athletes and teams. Woj is Marks' mouthpiece, Shams is Kyrie's. There was an awful article written by Kristian Winfield that was clearly hand fed to him by Kyrie's camp trying to slander Marks and Simmons. It's gross.

I was definitely disappointed in Winfield reading that article. It was some nasty stuff. And he was clowning the team on Twitter about not making the playoffs this year.

[MrDollarBills]

This is exactly the reason why Sean said what he said in after the season press conference last May. Sean was visibly pissed then and visibly upset when he knew KD/Kai were coming back in September's media day press conference. Marks wanted no affiliation to them anymore. And yet the Twitter folks, including Scoop, who I respect, was also on KD's and Kai's side. ScoopB is a legit source and knows the players very well and won't bull but he's wrong in avoiding Kyrie/KD taking accountability and blaming Marks/Tsai for everything.

Access journalism is becoming a problem in pro sports. Dudes are now mouthpieces for the athletes and teams. Woj is Marks' mouthpiece, Shams is Kyrie's. There was an awful article written by Kristian Winfield that was clearly hand fed to him by Kyrie's camp trying to slander Marks and Simmons. It's gross.

I was definitely disappointed in Winfield reading that article. It was some nasty stuff. And he was clowning the team on Twitter about not making the playoffs this year.

I unfollowed the dude. What he did was unprofessional and unethical. It's a shame, because I want to support all Black journos but not when you put stuff like that to print.

Ben is having a rough time, yes, but he didn't deserve that. Kyrie is a piece of sh*t for real, and a gaslighter.

[Hello Brooklyn]

I saw this the other day, and this is a big part of the problem. Prokhorov would have said "Talk to Sean." He let the basketball guys make all the basketball decisions. Tsai should not allow himself to be injected into these things. It undermines the GM & the coach.

That is not true.

Prokhorov forced us into cost cutting mode the year after we traded for KG, Pierce.

Thats why we couldn't resign Pierce or make any good moves after that.

I have my issues with Tsai. But you guys have to stop acting like Prokhorov was a good owner either. He hired Billy King for **** sake.

Pierce was cooked. KG was in severe decline. You don't keep throwing good money after bad. It would have been asinine to give Pierce the deal he wanted given his current and future production. Prokhorov was paying then record luxury tax from that team, but you can't do that for a first or second round exit.

Thorn tagged Billy King as his replacement. Prokhorov was NBA dumb. He didn't have a rolodex of potential NBA GMs to interview. Most owners have a front office in place when they buy a franchise & have time to get their feet wet. Because Thorn was leaving, Prokhorov did not have that.

That is a complete lie.

Pierce was our second best player in that playoff run. The main reason we beat the Raptors. He had the game winner in Game 7.

And he helped the Wizards make the 2nd round the very next year. Nearly made the Conference Finals actually.

Without him we cratered. After giving up so many assets to get him.

KG I agree wasn't as good. But still serviceable.

And no it wasn't asinine at all. He only got a 2 year deal from the Wizards and easily lived up to it.

If he didn't want to pay the tax then why did he make the **** trade????

Who cares what Thorn said. Youre the owner. Pick a GM who doesn't suck.

You guys need to stop acting like he was a good owner. The only good thing he did was get us to Brooklyn. All the decisions he made after were crippling.

Him and Billy King literally gave the Celtics Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

[Paradise]

Mikal Bridges is rocking #1 and Cam Johnson will switch to #2. The irony of dealing two stars who are best friends for two other guys who are best friends.

[NetsWorld]

Mikal Bridges is rocking #1 and Cam Johnson will switch to #2. The irony of dealing two stars who are best friends for two other guys who are best friends.

Our new JT/JB combo

[MrDollarBills]

I don't wanna kick the guy while he's down but we have to get Simmons off of our books, especially if Johnson performs at a high level in an expanded role.