Getty Andre Drummond, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant
Amidst all the turmoil the Brooklyn Nets are going through with the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving drama, there are still moves the team has to make in free agency.
Somebody who was already unlikely to come back to the Nets, center Andre Drummond who came over in the James Harden deal, made his decision and decided to jump ship to the Chicago Bulls.
Free agent center Andre Drummond has agreed to a two-year, $6.6M deal with the Chicago Bulls, sources tell ESPN. The second year is a player option.
He signed on a two-year, $6.6 million deal, so it’s not like his price tag was higher than the Nets could go. Then again, it’s hard to imagine a player searching for a title like Drummond feels like the Nets could’ve been his best option, so he decided to go to Chicago.
Drummond has a player option for the second season, so he can jump ship again if he feels like there’s a better fit elsewhere or if he wants to get a bigger payday.
Writing Was on the Wall
Drummond leaving was expected, especially considering his playing time all but disappeared in the four-game sweep against the Boston Celtics.
The veteran center doesn’t have much of an offensive game outside of putbacks and lobs, but he is one of the best rebounders the league has ever seen. Through his 24 games as a Net, Drummond put up 11 points per game to go along with 10 rebounds, so he was productive during his short tenure.
Restricted free agent C Nic Claxton has agreed on a two-year, $20 million deal to return to the Brooklyn Nets, sources tell ESPN.
The Nets won’t have to look far for Drummond’s replacement as he was already on the roster with Nic Claxton. Brooklyn is bringing him back on a two-year, $20 million deal according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Patty Mills is also returning to the Nets next season, so there will at least be some familiar faces coming back.
Outside of those two, there are going to be a lot of questions surrounding the team and how they navigate through the turmoil that is the organization at the moment.
Both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are expected to be shipped out of town this offseason, so there’s no telling what the roster will look like come opening day.
What’s the Latest?
Kevin Durant has the Phoenix Suns listed as a preferred trade destination, league sources tell @YahooSports.
Durant asking for a trade has massive implications for the rest of the league because there’s not a team out there who couldn’t use his talents.
Yahoo Sports reporter Chris Haynes reports Durant has the Suns as his preferred destination. The Suns are just one year removed from the NBA Finals, so Durant could certainly be the final piece on a championship team.
The problem is the Nets would want somebody like Devin Booker in return, but Phoenix is unlikely to give him up. A more likely option would be getting Deandre Ayton back in a sign-and-trade. The Nets don’t have a ton of uses for him considering they just brought back Claxton, but he’d be the likely candidate to be moved for the Suns.
There are plenty of other packages out there outside of Durant’s preferred landing spots, so the Nets will just have to wait and see what materializes.
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