Nets Notes: Durant, Lue, Next Steps

Although Kevin Durant is still a ways away from returning to the court and making his Nets debut, he was making progress in his recovery during the weeks leading up to the NBA’s hiatus, participating in three-on-three games. As Alex Schiffer of The Athletic details, Durant’s Brooklyn teammates were impressed with how the former MVP, who has spent the last 10 months recovering from Achilles surgery, looked in those scrimmages.

“He’s unguardable,” Theo Pinson said last month. “You think you’re contesting it, playing good defense and in a way he doesn’t even see you. It makes us better, and we’re trying to challenge him, too.”

Durant’s manager and business partner Rich Kleiman has stated multiple times since the NBA suspended its season that he still doesn’t believe it’s realistic to expect KD to return to action if the 2019/20 season resumes this summer. Still, even if Durant doesn’t suit up for the Nets until the ’20/21 season begins, the reports on his three-on-three performances have been encouraging.

“Whether he’s playing three-on-three, one-on-one, five-on-five, he’s KD,” Garrett Temple said. “And he’s an amazing player.”

Here’s more on the Nets:

  • In the wake of a report suggesting that Tyronn Lue is interested in the Nets’ head coaching job, a pair of former Nets forwards – Paul Pierce and Richard Jefferson – endorsed the idea of Lue taking the reins in Brooklyn, as Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News writes. “There are so many great young coaches out there who deserve an opportunity. T-Lue, to me, is the No. 1 young coach. He can coach,” Jefferson said on ESPN’s The Jump on Tuesday. “He can do all that stuff. He has a proven track record. So do I think T-Lue can coach this team? Do I think he can be successful? Yes.”
  • Alex Schiffer and John Hollinger of The Athletic explore potential next steps for the Nets as they look to become a title contender, touching on the head coaching situation and several other topics. In Hollinger’s view, if Brooklyn pursues a trade for a third star player, it should be someone who can be a defensive anchor and “punish teams without the ball,” since it doesn’t make sense to add another ball-dominant star to complement Kyrie Irving and Durant. Rudy Gobert would be an ideal target if the Jazz were to ever make him available, Hollinger suggests.
  • In case you missed it earlier this month, we previewed the Nets’ salary cap outlook for the 2020/21 season.
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