The Brooklyn Nets pulled a rabbit out of the hat when they signed Kevin Durant in the 2019 Free Agency. They also signed Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan to complete one of the best off-seasons overhauls. The surprising part was the New York Knicks, who are the Nets city rivals, were heavily linked with him. But the move never happened.

While speaking on The Boardroom podcast, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers also admitted he was surprised. He thought Durant would move to the Knicks. “Early on, I was like, ok, Rich is from New York, (Durant) can be the King of New York City, I got a feeling KD is going to the Knicks. Listen, I’m in the league and I actually thought that so you know everybody else thought it as well.”

Can Kevin Durant create a new dynasty in Brooklyn?

After months of rumors connecting the two, the move broke down. Ramona Shelburne from ESPN later revealed that the Knicks dropped out of the race to sign him due to injury concerns. Durant had suffered an Achilles injury in the Finals, and they were concerned about his recovery.

The Nets have never laid their hands on the Larry O’Brien championship trophy. They came close twice but were beaten in the Finals. During the early 2000s, Jason Kidd led them to two consecutive Finals appearance but the Nets lose both. Since then, they haven’t been able to cross the second round of the playoffs.

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After a three-year absence, the young and exciting Nets made the playoffs in 2019. Their brand of basketball and the flair they had is what attracted Durant. “I took a peek at the Knicks just to do my due diligence — but I really wanted to play for the black and white,” said Durant. “I liked the brand. Brooklyn was an up-and-coming city that needed some new flair, a new basketball injection.”

He also added that it had a similar feeling to the project at OKC. “Because being in Oklahoma City, I knew what that was like, having a new franchise around,” he said. “I was excited about hopefully doing something like that again in Brooklyn with a new team.”

Durant will feature in the upcoming season with Kyrie Irving and an exciting core around him. Despite missing their star duo, the Nets have been outperforming better teams. So when Durant and Irving join, they are going to be a contending team.