Kevin Durant's chapter with the Brooklyn Nets came to a close in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The Nets finalized a trade that sent Durant to the Phoenix Suns ahead of the 3 p.m. ET NBA trade deadline. Brooklyn underwent an abrupt roster transformation to highlight the deadline following Kyrie Irving's initial trade request which led to his arrival with the Dallas Mavericks. And now with two All-Star-caliber talents out the door, Nets general manager Sean Marks offered his response.
Marks provided an optimistic reaction for Nets fans, but did acknowledge his emotions with having to part ways with a two-time NBA Finals MVP in Durant.
"I'll be honest, last night I was sad," Marks told reporters, per SNY Nets video. "I think you, you do everything you possibly can in order to put together a team that you could be proud of and say, 'We can be in that championship conversation.' And for the last couple of years, we've been a team that you could've said, 'Hey look, things go right. ... health, consistency, continuity on the court. They have a chance to win a championship.'
"... There's an excitement with how we go about building this in the future and with what we have," Marks said. "And there's an excitement about seeing how Jacque (Vaughn) is going to coach these guys. So there's a lot of emotions that are running through."
Durant and Irving left the Nets at 32-22 which positioned them well within playoff contention. Now, with Brooklyn's two leading scorers out the door, the Nets will search for reliability within Ben Simmons amid his career-worst season, in order to keep their hopes afloat.
