Marcio Jose Sanchez/Connected Press
Kevin Durant has yet to play a game for the Brooklyn Nets since signing with the club closing summer season, and he’s already develop into a pivotal participant on the personnel.
That must reach as no shock after he signed a four-yr, $164.25 million deal in free agency, yet with the personnel reputedly at a crossroads, he’s taking matters into his fingers as great as probably, basically based mostly mostly on overall supervisor Sean Marks, at the same time as he continues to rehab from an Achilles damage that has saved him sidelined all season.
“He remains to be an awfully loud divulge by system of where we’re coming into into the future and what we’re doing and I involve him love the exchange avid gamers and workers and how we’ll proceed to make this personnel and how we switch forward,” Marks acknowledged (h/t SNY.TV’s Ian Begley).
Marks added that Durant has been concerned about conversations surrounding the roster and front-position of enterprise moves. Already, his presence has been felt on the sidelines.
Nets coach Kenny Atkinson resigned in early March—correct days sooner than the NBA went on hiatus—due in half to his relationship with Durant and fellow free-agent signee Kyrie Irving.
Per Yahoo Sports actions’ Vincent Goodwill:
“Extra than one sources urged Yahoo Sports actions that Atkinson wasn’t fascinating about teaching Durant and Irving basically based mostly mostly on what he saw this season, and would rather one thing happen now than on the pause of the season.
“That gibes with Marks announcing he and Atkinson had been in discussions about this for weeks, even months now. It’s tricky to embrace Atkinson hanging so great into turning the franchise spherical, but willing to neat his fingers of it months into this season.
“Whether or no longer Atkinson didn’t bend ample to accommodate his accomplished veterans for alarm of alienating of us that knew him as one thing various, or the wretchedness used to be too awkward to work, appears to be like supreme to speculate.”
It is exhausting to imagine the Nets, who’re currently led by duration in-between coach Jacque Vaughn, would hire Atkinson’s replacement with out the input of Durant and Irving. Irving in explicit has already urged the objects are no longer exactly in position for the Nets to originate a correct title saunter following a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in January.
The Nets will rob half within the NBA’s restart on the pause of July. The actual intrigue for the personnel will arrive after then when Durant and Irving originate serving to Marks form the vogue forward for the franchise for future years.
