One theory surrounding the Nets these days is they are about to gut the roster and start over.
It all began after point guard Kyrie Irving got suspended (again), this time for sharing a link to antisemitic material available on Amazon. So far, the pairing of Irving and star forward Kevin Durant has been a failure.
That in turn has led to talk that the Nets will look to trade Durant, something they presumably did when Durant requested a trade back in the summer.
And it appears the 76ers are one team that are waiting for it all to happen. Per Sean Deveney of Heavy.com, at least one Eastern Conference executive thinks so, anyway.
“There is no doubt the Sixers have asked on Durant, they did in the summer, and will keep asking about him,” the East exec told Deveney. “But the Nets are going to be a little put off by them already because of the Ben Simmons thing because they feel like they were set up to give away James Harden all along. So the Sixers burned them once, do the Nets want to go back and say, OK, sure, we’ll do a KD deal, too.”
Ah yes, Ben Simmons. It’s hard to remember he was traded from Philadelphia in the Harden deal in February. And it’s hard to remember because Simmons has been a non-factor since arriving in Brooklyn.
He didn’t play at all last season. This year, he just doesn’t look ready to play.
So the theory around the NBA is that the Nets will raise their hands to the heavens, give up on the idea on Durant and Irving (and Simmons) and start over. And that they will do it sometime between now and the trade deadline.
If that becomes the case, the entire league would undoubtedly take notice.
But perhaps no one as much as the Sixers — who again look like a very good team, but one that doesn’t appear ready to win a title. Finding a way to team Durant with Harden and Joel Embiid would undoubtedly change all that.
But it wouldn’t be easy.
“The main thing is, though, does (Sixers guard) Tyrese Maxey get put into the deal?” the East exec asked Deveney. “Because then the Nets have to listen, they might not get a better young player than him in any deal they make for Durant. Maxey, Tobias Harris, and (Matisse Thybulle) would work, but the Nets would not get any picks in the deal because Philly can’t offer any right now. If that is all that is on the table, Brooklyn would have to pass.”
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