NBA Rumors: ‘One Respected Veteran’ & ‘One Young, Talented Player’ Could Team Up Durant & Irving Next Season
Though the 2019-20 NBA season isn’t yet over, rumors have already started to swirl about the Brooklyn Nets‘ plan to make improvements on their roster in the offseason. Despite the successful acquisition of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant last summer, the Nets still don’t seem content with their current squad and are aiming to make major roster upgrades that would give them a better chance of fully dominating the Eastern Conference and winning the NBA championship next season. However, with Irving and Durant on their roster, the Nets may have an easier time recruiting quality players this summer.
In a recent mailbag, Ian Begley of SportsNet New York answered a question from a fan if he has any idea on “Kyrie or KD friends” that could potentially join the Nets next season. Begley revealed that there’s at least “one respected veteran” and “one young, talented player” who have expressed interest in teaming up with Durant and Irving.
“I think it’s silly to speculate until there is something more concrete to talk about, but since you asked: I know that there is at least one respected veteran and one young, talented player who have significant interest in joining Durant and Irving in Brooklyn,” Begley said, as quoted by SB Nation’s Nets Daily. “Both players’ contract situations would make a move to Brooklyn feasible. Of course, there’s a wide gap between players having interest in Brooklyn and actually ending up in Brooklyn. But I think the Nets will have plenty of attractive options to consider this summer when the club looks to add to its roster.”
When it comes to a player who could join forces with Durant and Irving, one name is being frequently mentioned in various trade rumors — All-Star shooting guard Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards. With the Wizards once again set to suffer a huge disappointment this season, most people expected Beal to be available on the trade market this summer. However, although he’s intrigued by the idea of forming the Nets’ “Big Three” with Durant and Irving, Beal already said that he’s looking forward to playing with a healthy John Wall next season.
Begley didn’t mention any specific names, but SB Nation’s Nets Daily made wild speculations regarding the players that he could be talking about in his mailbag. The outlet guessed that the “young, talented player” could be referring to Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz or Quinn Cook of the Los Angeles Lakers, and Serge Ibaka of the Toronto Raptors might be the “respected veteran.”
Two of those players, Cook and Ibaka, have connections with Durant. Cook played and won an NBA championship title with Durant on the Golden State Warriors, while Ibaka teamed up with KD on the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, of the three players, Mitchell would undeniably be the best acquisition for the Nets as he would enable them to fulfill their dream of adding a third superstar to their roster this summer.
