If I told you three months ago that the Brooklyn Nets would end up with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, you would have written me off as a lunatic. At the time, it was the general expectation from pretty much everyone that they were going to team up in Brooklyn's cross town rival, the Knicks. New York had cleared enough cap space for two max free agents, and at the time, it looked like they were going to land Zion too.
Well, exactly zero of these things happened. Kyrie was was never going to stay in Boston after their chemistry and leadership issues last season. The Knicks were, as mentioned before, the number one destination, but rumors started creeping up about the Nets. Eventually, Kyrie decided on joining the Nets, and it was reported that he had agreed to the full four year max yesterday.
Kevin Durant's free agency was a lot more up in the air, especially after his Achilles injury. The Warriors became much stronger candidates to resign, and the Knicks remained at the top of the list. The only reason KD would have chosen the Nets over the Knicks was if a second star came, and after Kyrie announced his decision, KD decided to join Brooklyn too. He agreed to a 4 year, 142 million dollar deal, taking less than the max once again in order to help Brooklyn sign other talents.
Brooklyn is going to be a force to reckon with once KD comes back. Kyrie and Durant are added to an already stable core of Caris LeVert, Joe Harris, Spencer Dinwiddie, Taurean Prince, and Jarrett Allen, with DeAndre Jordan also signing today. That team will be the favorite to win the East for years to come, and are the best chance Brooklyn has ever had for a championship.
As for the rest of the league, well, watch out . All of the Eastern Conference vying for a title are now probably worse than Brooklyn, and forget about anybody good trying to come into the East. The Western Conference is much more up for grabs, and any player looking to win should stay try and go West.
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