The NBA training camp is getting closer and closer, and the league is finally able to resume after the Kevin Durant soap opera came to an end Tuesday morning.
Both sides have agreed to make the situation work for the better of the organization.
At least for now, as you never know what you’re going to get with a superstar player that holds the power to halt an entire league.
Although, lots of the NBA fans and players like (the always outspoken) Patrick Beverly, are a bit upset at the antics that took place this entire offseason.
According to Beverly, guys can finally get their lives going again to feed their families (paraphrasing) and he may not be wrong on this as this entire situation has in some ways made teams scramble and pause on signing role pieces to their rosters.
I guess in the end it really won’t matter who was upset or not, when Durant continues to drop superstar future Hall-of-Fame numbers on the court he will continue to get love and cement his legacy.
This could very well be a strategic play for leverage that both sides had to come together and orchestrate, in order to get the asking price of a player the caliber of Kevin Durant back up to the proper value.
After the Rudy Gobert trade to Minnesota totally destroyed the value of a supposed KD trade, this will bring in more teams and the picture could be clearer at the trade deadline than it is right now.
Teams like the Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat and a few others can now resume what’s left of the offseason, and add the pieces they are missing to improve their teams.
Suns were hot and heavy in the mix for Durant services and were said that they were his primed destination.
One has to think now after the fact, the Suns held out on the trade just as much as Brooklyn did because they had a lot to lose in this type of transaction.
The first big thing they could have lost would have been the services of the runner-up in the Defensive Player of the year Mikal Bridges, who had to be in this trade for them to have any chance of landing KD along with more assets of course.
This deal could have easily made the Suns the favored to win the Championship, and could have also been the next failed super team held back because of star power egos and power struggle.
Kevin Durant has been nothing short of a mystery in this entire saga, he went from requesting a trade to demanding the heads of the coach and GM, too now, everything is cool and I will stick around.
How did this come about?
Well, it’s very simple.
The NBA is a business before it’s anything else, the business of entertainment on and off the court.
It would have been very bad business on both sides’ part to work any deal that was sitting out there, as each deal would have had two losers.
Why? Because first of all, we have to keep in mind that although Durant is arguably the best player in the league, he is an aged 34-year-old player that is more accessible to nagging injuries that could limit his availability.
Then whichever team did receive him in a trade would have to also deal with the fact he would essentially be running your team’s direction.
Of course, Brooklyn would be the bigger loser, any deal that did not yield them two stars and several first-round picks would have been a rip-off.
So again, it’s business.
In business, sometimes good deals are made and other times some deals just don’t make sense to be made from a profit standpoint.
So the media and the complaining players again like Patrick Beverly, although with valid points, really cannot be upset at a business deal gone bad.
Kevin Durant had to make his decision for himself and what was best for him and his family, and the Nets organization had to do the exact same thing for their franchise.
All in all, the team that Brooklyn will start the season with can very well end the season holding up the Larry O’Brien trophy if this thing falls into place.
But this can also be a prolonging of what Durants true desire is, and that’s to be traded where he desires to play.
We will keep our eyes on January’s trade deadline, and also how the Nets are performing on the court at that time.
One thing is for certain, I’m sure glad this thing is over, at least for now.
KAZUAL SPORTZ RADIO NETWORK 