Durant, Irving, Nets seek redemption after messy 2021-22

NEW YORK (AP) — Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons supply the talent. Embarrassment provides the motivation.

The Brooklyn Nets know they made a monumental mess of the 2021-22 season, turning a championship contender into a first-round flop. Durant was so discouraged he asked to be traded, Irving so unreliable he didn’t get a contract beyond this season.

They’re back together now, so don’t count out Brooklyn. Especially because the fuel Durant describes may be more powerful than potential.

“A year of us looking in the mirror, like, we (messed) up as a team and that only makes you better,” Durant said. “So, I’m banking on that. I’ve got faith in that.”

Perhaps that’s why Durant ultimately dropped his request to be dealt and agreed to move forward in Brooklyn, where he is about to start the four-year extension he signed last summer. Or maybe it’s simply because he knew the Nets were never going to find a trade acceptable to them, so he needed to accept that he was staying.

That means the Nets still have a roster that can chase a championship. Simmons is finally set to play again after sitting out all last season, first in Philadelphia because of mental health reasons, then in Brooklyn — after being acquired in the swap for James Harden — because of a herniated disk in his back that required surgery.

He provides the defensive expertise the Nets have so clearly lacked. It may take time on the other end of the floor — Simmons committed six turnovers in 25 minutes of a preseason game against Miami. But even without shooting much he could be an ideal playmaker flanked by the outside shooting of Durant, who averaged a franchise-record 29.9 points last season, and 3-point specialists Joe Harris and Seth Curry.

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