The Brooklyn Nets knew they were getting one of the best players in the world when they convinced Kevin Durant to come to town.
What has been really surprising, however, is the fact that Brooklyn has apparently also added one of the best recruiters and general managers in the league considering how he pulled Blake Griffin to Brooklyn.
After getting bought out by the Detroit Pistons, Griffin could’ve gone to any number of contenders, but he chose Durant and the Nets despite the fact he will likely come off of the bench.
When asked why he picked the Nets, Griffin hinted at the fact that KD had a lot of influence with regard to his decision.
By trading for James Harden, a move that made Kyrie Irving somehow the third-best offensive player on this team, KD has created a situation in which the only player that can claim to have the same amount of gravitational pull is LeBron James.
Has Durant done enough this year to dethrone King James and become the best hybrid player-GM in this league?
Blake Griffin on who recruited him the most to Brooklyn,
— Ajayi Browne (@ajayibrowne) March 11, 2021
“I talked to KD the most.”
Kevin Durant is assembling a superteam with the Nets.
James has already slipped four rings on his fingers, and all of them have come about due to his own influence on personnel. Not only was he responsible for the creation of the Big Three in Miami, but he inspired the Kevin Love trade when he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
He famously lured Klutch client Anthony Davis away from the New Orleans Pelicans by trading essentially the entire Lakers bench in exchange for the big man. While James has a longer history of success in this psuedo-GM role, what KD is helping accomplish in tandem with Sean Marks this year is astonishing.
The Nets went from a team that started Quincy Acy and Luis Scola four seasons ago to a team that is debating the merits of Blake Griffin coming off the bench. Between Blake and the Harden trade, Durant’s fingerprints are all over this roster, and they should be considered one of the favorites to dethrone the Lakers.
LeBron has the rings to back up his influence in personnel, but the Nets are assembling a combination of talent the likes of which the league hasn’t seen before. If this is what KD has been able to do in his first season, only time will tell what he will be able to accomplish further down the road.
If Durant keeps this up, he might just have to enter the Hall of Fame twice as a player and de facto GM.