Kevin Durant. Sarah Phipps / USA TODAY NETWORK

Robin Lopez offers amusing take on Brooklyn's surprise trade

The ramifications of Kevin Durant's trade to Phoenix will be discussed at length over the next 24 hours, but center Robin Lopez offered the hard-hitting analysis basketball fans crave early Thursday.

Lopez -- rather accurately -- drew a parallel to Brooklyn's "Big Three" of Durant, Kyrie Irving and James and the 1984 film "The Muppets Take Manhattan."

Durant, Irving and Harden paired up with the expectation of forming the next great NBA dynasty. Instead, the three won one playoff series and lasted less than two full seasons together.

Irving and Durant signed with the organization in the 2019 offseason while Durant recovered from an Achilles injury. When Durant returned for the 2020-21 season, the team traded for Harden on Jan. 13, 2021.

A little over a year later, the Nets traded Harden to Philadelphia on Feb. 10, 2022. Irving was traded to Dallas this past weekend.

In the 1984 film, the Muppets head to New York with hopes of becoming Broadway stars, but -- spoiler alert -- their initial bid fails and the group disbands.

Kermit remains in New York, which makes him and Ben Simmons kindred spirits, in an effort to revive his musical.

If there's a reason for Nets fans to be optimistic, in the film the Muppets find their way back to New York and turn the musical into the hit they always believed it could be.

As long as Cam Thomas keeps dropping 40 points a night, anything's possible.

But unlike the Muppets film, there won't be any reunions in Brooklyn for Irving, Durant and Harden. For Nets fans, the best possible outcome at this point is wiping these fruitless last four seasons from their memory.

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