Monday, July 1st, 2019

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Written while listening to Roy Ayers' We Live in Brooklyn

It got wild last night...

Al Horford is going to Philly. Andre Iguodala was banished to Memphis. D'Angelo Russell is headed to the Bay. Kevin Durant is Brooklyn's own. Julius Randle, of all people, got paid by the Knicks. Kemba Walker is a Celtic, and so on.Here’s every signing, up to date, from a ridiculous first day of free agency.

 The Nets have gentrified, and now they’re officially Brooklyn's team   

With their two biggest free agency hauls in team history yesterday, signing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Nets poured hot water into a big ol' cup of instant relevancy. They also finally became Brooklyn.It’s been seven years since they left a lackluster home and fanbase in New Jersey for New York City’s most populous borough, but, once with desolate teams and losing seasons that attracted only the basketball OGs and the dwindling diehards, they needed time to fully mirror where they chose to put down roots.   Now, in 2019, they’ve caught up, and now they’ll join in on what Brooklyn does best: quick and sweeping change at the expense of the people who were there first. In the Knicks, Manhattan saw one of its own, while the Nets, a bad team in a non-historic arena, remained an interesting and understated alternative, in both attendance and ticket price. Over the four-or-so years they were irrelevant, you circled days on the schedule in which a great player or a great team was coming to town. You saw Anthony Davis or Damian Lillard for a $15 ticket. But they’re Brooklyn's now, and they’ll be flaunting $100 tickets and corporate packages to newcomers who would never dream of going before, the same way the CEOs in San Fran stumbled upon the Warriors. Their jerseys will be thought-provoking. Game nights will no longer look like the empty warehouses in Williamsburg. Yep, the Nets have finally arrived. [READ: Inside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving's plot to team up in Brooklyn]

Five things we’ll miss from the pre-KD-Kyrie era

1. One time, during a random Nets game we were at a few years ago, Caris LeVert was at the free-throw line, and the place was so empty and quiet that you could hear a lady scream AYY LEVERT!!!! before he released his shot. Her voice echoed throughout the arena, and it didn’t sound like a random person, it sounded like a woman whom LeVert had wronged in some way. 

2. At that same game, there was probably one person in the entire place that actually cared about the outcome. He was rocking a New Jersey Nets Brook Lopez jersey, and was living and dying with every basket. The Nets blew a last-minute lead to Portland in some longshot way; he crumbled; his girlfriend didn’t want to be there. 

3. Another time, for a 7 p.m. tip, we bought tickets at 6:30 p.m. for a little over $10. The Nets were playing the Clippers, and Paul Pierce hit a few 3s. That was cool. 

4. Even during their worst days, Barclays always had, and probably will still have, an honestly pretty annoying DJ. The Nets would be sucking. The place would be empty. And quiet. Except for that DJ, playing Jay-Z songs or generic pump-up music, imploring the few people in the arena to MAKE SOME NOISEEEEEEE. Crickets. 

5. Obviously, the PR staff didn’t have much to sell in the post-2013 trade world. Among the one-liners:Brooklyn, We Go Hard; We are Brooklyn; Hello Brooklyn; Brooooook-lin. Considering the players they were working with, it was a valiant effort, but no one was getting misty-eyed from memories of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The Knicks are really dumb, and we knew that all along

This is a fact:

• When the Knicks traded Kristaps Porzingis and bad salary to the Mavericks in February, they did it with the intention of signing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. James Dolan basically came out and said it: "From what we've heard, we're going to have a very successful offseason."

This is also a fact:

• Yesterday, on the first day of free agency, the Knicks didn’t sign either of those players. They signed Julius Randle to a three-year, $63 million deal, and Taj Gibson to a two-year, $20 million deal. They also added Bobby Portis for $31 million over two years and Reggie Bullock for $21 million over two years. So, yes, they will definitely have enough players to complete the regular season. 

This is also a fact:

• After not signing, or even being in the hunt for Durant, who was rumored to be a done-deal to the Knicks for months, reports came out Sunday that the Knicks weren’t even interested in offering Durant a max contract.

This is also a fact:

• Last night, team president Steve Mills released this statement: “While we understand that some Knicks fans could be disappointed with tonight’s news, we continue to be upbeat and confident in our plans to rebuild the Knicks to compete for championships in the future, through both the draft and targeted free agents.” Great!

This is what we wrote in February, after the trade:

• “The logical thing here would be to assume the Knicks know something none of us do in regards to Porzingis' ACL injury and New York's free agency outlook this summer, but what in the last two decades has delivered legitimacy to that thought?” Answer: nothing.

This is the truth:

• As long as James Dolan is the owner, you should never give the Knicks the benefit of the doubt, even if ESPN did.

This is also the truth:

• Cap space cannot score points, defend the paint, or pass the ball.

[READ: 

James Dolan must sell the New York Knicks and then go for a long walk

]

Why, Al? (And other free agency thoughts)

• No Celtics fan should be ready to confront the reality that Al Horford is now a member of the 76ers. He’s so goddamn good, and he’s playing for the rival team, who you’d have to assume will be the favorite to win the East next year, depending on what Kawhi ends up doing. His jetting for Philly also probably shows how dark last year was for the Celtics. Poor Al must have felt like Chief Bromden in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. 

• The Bucks had an interesting day. They gave Khris Middleton a cringey amount (five years, $178 million), re-upped on Brook Lopez and George Hill, added Lopez brother Robin, and let Malcolm Brogdon, arguably the team’s second-best player in the playoffs, walk to Indiana, for a four-year-$85 million deal. Every team can use a player like Brogdon, and now that he’s gone, that mid-season extension of Eric Bledsoe looks even more questionable. 

• Tobias Harris’s $180 million contract over five years will probably look even more absurd in a few years than it does now. Harris has game, but he probably won’t ever be an All-Star; he’s not a great playmaker, and he shot 42.5/34.9/84.6 in last year’s playoffs on 15.5 points per game. Those numbers are great at $15 million a season. Not great for $36 million. Plus, Ben Simmons is due for a massive extension after next season. There will be rich guy tax to be paid if the 76ers want to keep all four. 

• Some of our least favorite contracts: Terry Rozier to Charlotte for $58 million over three years. Trevor Ariza to the Kings for $25 million over two years. Rudy Gay returning to San Antonio for $32 million over two years. 

• Some of our favorite: JJ Redick to the Pelicans for $26.5 million over two years. Brogdon to Indiana for $85 million over four years. Bojan Bogdanovic to Utah for $73 million over four years. 

• Other shrug-worthy signings: Ricky Rubio to the Suns for $51 million over three years. Derrick Rose to the Pistons for $15 million over two years. 

• Some free agents remaining, as of Monday afternoon: Demarcus Cousins, Danny Green, Marcus Morris, Enes Kanter, Rajon Rondo, Kelly Oubre. 

• With Kyrie officially out of Boston, let’s remember this soundbite one last time: “If you guys will have me back, I plan on resigning here.” And this commercial, which insinuates his jersey will one day be hanging in the rafters at the Boston Garden.

• What are the chances Andre Iguodala ever plays a game in Memphis? Hopefully, none. The Warriors traded him last night to free up money for D'Angelo Russell. Iggy must have seen the end, because he went on the Breakfast Club last week and said the Warriors' misdiagnosed his and KD's injuries; that Mark Jackson was being blackballed; and plenty of other interesting things. 

 Quick Hits

• Jimmy Butler will likely still end up with the Heat, but the sign-and-trade between Miami and Philly hit a snag last night and still hasn't been completed. 

• There still isn't much to take from Kawhi's free agency, though the Lakers and Raptors seem to be the frontrunners. He didn't even meet with any teams yesterday. He was probably at the movies or something. 

• Klay Thompson signed his five-year, $190 million contract yesterday with the Warriors.

• KD officially announced his signing on Instagram, with one of the best Biggie Smalls songs ever playing in the background. 

• Kyrie and KD are taking less than the max to allow money for DeAndre Jordan to sign a $40 million contract over four years. Hopefully he doesn't start over Jarrett Allen. 

• Twitter unearthed this random 2012 interview with Jimmy Butler, where he listed a Heat jersey as the “one thing I’d never wear.” That was a different NBA.

• This video tweet of KD sifting through comments on Instagram needs to usher in the era of the Creative Tweet Awards. 

• Lifelong Knicks fan Stephen A. Smith is trying to cope with reality.

 Concrete Reads 

• Here’s one vote for Kyrie Irving as Boston’s greatest sports villain [The Boston Globe] 

• The winners and losers of Kevin Durant’s massive free agency decision [The Ringer]

• Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Brooklyn's rise from the ashes [ESPN]

• Kawhi Leonard has a monumental decision to make [The Ringer]

• Andre Iguodala: The no-stats Hall of Famer [NBC Sports]

 Podcast Pick

KD to Brooklyn, another Knicks failure, Philly’s big save, and a crazy day one of free agency [The Bill Simmons Podcast]