City is mine
In what has been considered one of the biggest swerves in free agency history, many insiders were all told that Kevin Durant would be re-signing a one-year deal with the Golden State Warriors this summer. There, he would use the time to rehab and then join the New York Knicks in 2021.
This information was purposely leaked, allegedly, by KD and his team, to broker a long-term deal with the Brooklyn Nets. The Knicks were Durant’s original team before the injury, but those dreams at the Mecca changed in late May.
The original plan was for him and Kyrie Irving to join DeAndre Jordan, because the pair wanted to play at Madison Square Garden. Unfortunately, James Dolan would not give Durant a max deal, due to health concerns about his future and refusing to pay for a rehab year. Golden State’s plan was to have Durant stay, but only give him a two-year deal and stay under the luxury cap.
So, they were just going to re-up his deal every other year; likely making $40 million a season. However, the kicker was that KD even settled for way less money on the Nets, just so that Kyrie Irving would get paid. That’s how bad he wanted to get out of Golden State, losing that much money on the front-end.
It’s expected that he’ll recoup the money in NYC with JAY-Z and Roc Nation on the back end of new deals and sponsorships. The writing was on the wall when Roc Nation Sports announced Kyrie Irving was joining them; just two days before the start of free agency.
This led to many believing that the two pair would end up on the Brooklyn Nets, due to the connection both Roc Nation members have with JAY-Z. It was most definitely the case, as Jay saw an opportunity to pair prestige clients with his friends of the Nets.
In the midst of information being leaked and pressure to build a winner, Brooklyn had no choice but to give Durant a four-year max. The long-term deal is what the Warriors were allegedly refusing to do; and the same for the Knicks, which was the real reason why he didn’t go.
If there’s anything the general public doesn’t know, it’s that Jay-Z and Roc Nation Sports do not EVER settle for shorts (see: their days in the streets). So, Durant coming to the home team at Brooklyn was in our opinion Jigga’s mastermind plan all along, which is hilarious to say the least.
The injury essentially changed the terms of his original deal with the Knicks, leading Jay to sneak in for the kill. Since the Barclays Center was first built in 2012, Mikhail Prokhorov promised fans that he would build a winner and it looks like they have championship hopes for 2021.
With Prokhorov likely to spend over the luxury tax bill in 2021, we expect the team to just use this year to examine which players they would like to keep or get around 7/11.
Stephen A predicting the future
Jigga man, and
when the NY move became official