Brooklyn Nets: Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant leave cash for DeAndre Jordan

According to a report, free agents Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant will take below-maximum deals to help the Brooklyn Nets add DeAndre Jordan to a 4-year deal.

After earlier reports indicated superstar free agents Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving had agreed to max deals with the Brooklyn Nets, it appears both players will leave some money on the table to allow the Nets to sweeten their offer to DeAndre Jordan.

The former All-NBA center has reportedly agreed to a four-year, $40 million contract to join Durant and Irving in Brooklyn, according to Adrian Wojnarowski.

DeAndre Jordan has agreed to four-year, $40M deal with the Nets, Excel Sports agent Jeff Schwartz tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2019

According to ESPN’s Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne, Jordan’s deal is made possible by Durant and Irving each agreeing to take less than max money.

Reporting this story with @ramonashelburne. https://t.co/6uQMcpvipl
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2019

The cap gymnastics being performed by Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks and his front office staff are impressive. ESPN analyst Bobby Marks explained that it is possible for the Nets to add Irving, Durant and Jordan … without having to trade any of the remaining players on the roster.

Brooklyn can add $5.7M (KD) and $4.9M (Kyrie) of unlikely but possible bonuses (reaching round 2 and 45 wins) in each contract. How Brooklyn times each contract would allow DeAndre Jordan to sign for a $10M per year contract. BKN would not have to make any trades to the roster. https://t.co/Z01aSmjjMh
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 1, 2019

The Nets will be adding Jordan and Irving next season, while Durant’s first year with Brooklyn will likely be spent rehabbing his injured right Achilles’ tendon, which he ruptured during Game 5 of the NBA Finals while with the Golden State Warriors.

Irving, 27, is a six-time All-Star and a two-time All-NBA selection, including making second team last season. Jordan, who turns 31 on July 21, was an All-Star in 2017 and is a three-time All-NBA pick.

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Irving and Jordan were teammates, along with Durant, on USA Basketball’s gold-medal winning team at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.

Jordan split last season between the Dallas Mavericks and New York Knicks. He signed a one-year, $22.9 million deal with Dallas last summer before being traded to New York in the Kristaps Porzingis deal last January.

He averaged 11.0 points, 13.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 blocks in 29.7 minutes per game between the two teams last season, shooting 64.1 percent overall and a career-high 70.5 percent from the foul line, raising his career mark at the stripe to 46.6 percent.

He last attempted a 3-pointer on March 13, 2017, while with the LA Clippers and is 1-for-11 from behind the arc in his 11 NBA seasons, the first 10 of which he spent with the Clippers.

Jordan’s playing time diminished after his trade to New York, where he was benched for the final seven games of the season and played in only 19 games for the Knicks after he was acquired, averaging 25.9 minutes a game after getting 31.1 minutes a night in Dallas.

It’s not clear what Jordan’s role will be in Brooklyn, but given his age, he may be coming to the Nets to take over Ed Davis‘ role as backup center-slash-mentor to young Jarrett Allen.

Jordan has twice led the NBA in rebounding and has averaged double-figures on the glass in each of the last six seasons.

He is not a floor-stretcher by any means. While Jordan is the NBA’s all-time leader in field-goal percentage at 67.0 percent, 82.9 percent of his 4,698 career attempts have been from inside the restricted area.