The bomb is ticking: Brooklyn needs to carefully dismantle the mine with its stars

On the face of it, Irving and Durant's timed messages look like an attempt to put pressure on the Brooklyn management.

But with two such unexpected types the explosion may indeed be on the way, and then each will be treated differently.

Ravitz concludes the night of the draft, including the imitation of Wiggins in Dallas and the third rib in Portland

Assaf Ravitz

25/06/2022

Saturday, June 25, 2022, 6 p.m.

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Golden State players celebrate in the locker room (from Instagram)

There is no shortage of moments in the NBA season.

Exactly one week after Golden State won the championship took place on the eve of the draft - one of the most interesting and important nights of next season.

Usually the draft includes many deals in which significant players switch teams.

Not this time.

There were a great many deals on the eve of the draft, but almost all of them were current and future election exchanges.

Only three active players have switched teams: Diantoni Melton moved to Philadelphia in exchange for Danny Green and especially for the 23rd draft pick (in which Memphis selected David Rudy) and Kamba Walker moved to Detroit to get rid of his contract, as part of a long and confusing series of Knicks moves in that draft.

Since I do not pretend to evaluate the draft picks themselves (even those who are considered experts in the field have a very hard time estimating in real time who will become a senior player in the league and who will be a marginal player), I have not too much left to write about after the draft night.

It seems that most of the teams have armed themselves ahead of the opening of next season's transfer window in a week, it could be that many sign and trade moves are planned that cannot be summed up before July.

The two main moves since there is something to be said about happened in the days before the draft, and this will be an opportunity to delve into them.

But the most significant occurrence is not exactly an occurrence, but an accumulation of rumors that has reached the critical mass stage regarding one of the most interesting teams in the league.

More on Walla!

Three-headed monster: The three greatest talents in the NBA Draft

To the full article

You created the problem yourself.

Kyrie Irving (Photo: Reuters)

Is Brooklyn unpacking the package?

Almost simultaneously, rumors circulated that Kyrie Irving was interested in the Sign & Trade and that Kevin Durant intended to re-examine the situation in Brooklyn.

It could be that this is the way for both members to put pressure on the Nets management to give Kyrie the long-term contract they are very reluctant to give him, it could also work.

But when it comes to these working souls, it could very well be that this is the end of the project they teamed up to create.

If Kyrie and KD are available for bids it will devour all the cards of the summer, even though teams will think twice before giving something very significant in return.

Suffice it to say that the two teams they left three years ago to build the joint project in Brooklyn just met in the finals, while together they won one series.

The main question marks are, of course, around Kyrie.

After the problems he created with his own hands in Boston and Brooklyn, teams that feel good about themselves will not be in a hurry to jump on him, it's a bet that has already been proven to crash.

But there are enough teams that need the hope that Irving's immense talent produces when he's busy playing basketball.

It would not surprise me if it turns out that the Knicks' conduct on the eve of the draft, especially the way it won future draft picks, has to do with the desire to bring in Kyrie, who marked them as one of the teams that interest him.

Durant will already demand a more substantial reward from protected future elections and how many expiring contracts the Knicks have.

He came up with his own question marks: He will be 34 at the start of next season, missed a lot of games in the two years after the Achilles tendon rupture and struggled against Boston in the playoffs this year.

But it's still the player in the playoffs a year ago who looks like the best player in the world, like the scariest version of himself, and for the chance to get him quite a few teams will be willing to give a great deal.

If Durant does demand a trade and Brooklyn accepts the demand, almost every team in the league will try to figure out if it has a way to build a package for it.

If all this does happen, and it's a very big mother, a key question is also what Brooklyn will want in exchange for its stars.

Will she go for rebuilding with youngsters and draft picks or will she try to get players to help her stay competitive.

The rebuild option seems more appealing.

Ben Simmons, in his situation, may at all prefer a situation without expectations in order to build his confidence in it as well.

The Hunts' draft picks in recent years have been quite successful, leaving the team with some interesting youngsters like Nick Claxton, Cam Thomas and Wexler Edwards.

Perhaps the best way to manage the unending crisis that is the Brooklyn Nets of recent years is to move the stars when you can still get very significant packages in return that will allow you to start from scratch with good opening conditions.

He too came up with question marks.

Durant (Photo: GettyImages, Al Bello)

Christian Wood in Dallas

Wood is one of the big mysteries in the league, a talented and diverse inside player who has never played in a serious team and it is very difficult to guess what one will look like.

His arrival on the team that reached the Western Conference finals makes him a very important player in the coming season.

Wood will probably be the starting chin and will complete a rotation of eight players who all score from the outside and most of them know how to attack with their faces to the basket, which will make Dallas an offensive team that is very difficult to deal with.

He could also be an ideal partner for Pick n 'Roll with Luca Doncic, one who could roll both in and out, and attack Miss Matches in exchange.

Luca's greatness lies in his ability to take whatever the defense gives, in his optimistic version Wood can join him in that.

The big question is whether Wood is capable of tackling the defensive tasks of a developing center in a senior team.

His structure is very thin, which will make it difficult for him to deal with massive chins like Nikola Jukic.

It's hard to know how he defends the ring and functions in substitutions on outside players as part of quality defense because he has never taken part in one.

Teams that want to go all the way can not afford a defensive hole in the chin position, nor too many weak links in defense, Luca is currently such a weak link and Jaylen Bronson's height makes him another weak link.

The change that Andrew Wiggins has undergone helps to believe that there are players who in the right situation will know how to adapt and become more efficient, if Wood is like that he could turn out to be the missing squad of the Mavericks.

Houston received in exchange for Wood a low first-round pick, presumably she groped enough to find that teams are in no hurry to give it a go.

The prevailing hypothesis was that in the third pick, the Rockets would have inside player Paolo Bancro, but Orlando chose him first and left Jabri Smith, a power forward who functions as an outside player, for Houston.

Along with the relinquishment of Wood, the past week has made the talented Turkish Alpern Shengon the opening center of the Rockets and the central inside player on the staff of Stephen Silas.

Shengon will get the stage, and if he looks like Houston's future center, with Smith and Jaylen Green, he will look much more promising.

Wiggins in the chin version?

Doncic hopes so.

Christian Wood vs. Luca (Photo: GettyImages, Ron Jenkins)

Jeremy Grant in Portland

Portland continues its disassembly and assembly process.

If at first it seemed like general manager Joe Cronin was planning a rebuilding process, now it turns out he just replaced almost the entire team that was around Damien Lillard with a new team trying to succeed here and now.

The two players who are still on the roster - Anfrani Simmons and Yusuf Norkic, are finishing a contract and a major goal in the summer will be to keep them.

Simmons is the reason Portland has allowed itself to give up CJ McCollum, if he continues to function as a quality secondary scorer with high defensive potential from McCollum it could be that the current version of Portland will indeed be better than the previous ones.

Grant is one of the main reasons for this.

He is a defense expert who has greatly developed his offensive abilities in the last two years in Detroit.

The new situation seems to suit him very professionally, he will serve as a third option on offense and will be able to enjoy the defensive attention in the hands.

The quintet will be completed by the underappreciated Josh Hart, a very high-quality complementary player.

On the bench there are currently mostly unproven wingers - the interesting Nasir Little, Justice Winslow still looking for his place in the league, Trenton Watford who showed sparks last season and rookie Shidon Sharp who is very little known about him.

There were rumors of the Blazers' interest in Bao G. Anonobi in exchange for the seventh pick Sharp was selected for, if such a trade happens without giving up Hart it would be a significant upgrade to the current squad.

But in the end, the most important question is what Lillard's fitness is, after an injury and at 32. If he's still at his peak, it's worth noting Portland.

Excellent third rib.

Jeremy Grant vs. Portland (Photo: GettyImages, Steph Chambers)

Detroit received a package that did not look impressive for Grant, but its ability to turn the 2025 Milwaukee pick it received in the trade into the 13th pick in the current draft and Jaylen Dorn changes the picture.

Dorn, along with the various second-round compensation the Pistons received, looks like a decent price for a player in his final year in a contract that will require a very significant contract next summer.

For Detroit, it was probably also important to find a team that could take Grant without returning a big contract, which gives it a lot of space under the summer salary cap (Kamba Walker is expected to get a buyout).

The Pistons will probably try to sign restricted free agents like Diandra Eyton and Miles Bridges on high contracts and hope their teams do not equalize.

It usually does not work, but the Pistons management seems to be building on that at the moment.

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Tags

• Brooklyn Nets

• Dallas Mavericks

• Portland Blazers

• Detroit Pistons