New York Post, Thursday, December 3, 2020
nypost.com
By Brian LewisKevin Durant’s first game with his
Nets team will come on opening night
against his old Warriors team. It will
come 561 days since the last time he
took the court in an NBA game, ruptur-
ing his Achilles playing for
Golden State.
Now on Dec. 22 Durant offi-
cially returns to the court
against his former team, unsure
exactly when — or if — he will be his
old dominant self.
“Who knows?” Durant asked rhetori-
cally. “I just got to see how I feel in a
real NBA game again.”
That game will be on TNT, with the
entire basketball world watching. Theytip off a doubleheader, followed by Lak-
ers vs. Clippers.
Durant and Kyrie Irving both joined
the Nets in the summer of 2019. But Du-
rant missed all of last season with a rup-
tured Achilles suffered while playing
for Golden State in the 2019 NBA Finals,
while Irving was limited to just
20 games before a season-end-
ing shoulder surgery.
That means Durant will make
his regular-season Nets debut
against his old Warriors teammates, in-
cluding Draymond Green. Their high-
profile spat hastened Durant’s move
from Golden State to Brooklyn.➤The decisions run all the way to the
top. And in the case of replacing KennyAtkinson, that call got made not by GM
Sean Marks or stars Kevin Durant and
Kyrie Irving, but by owner Joe Tsai.
YES broadcaster Ian Eagle, speaking
on The Athletic NBA Show podcast,
stated the move came down to the
“vibe being felt” by ownership, who
“evaluate everything.” Though Eagle
admitted players have a voice, and
stars “absolutely” do, he stated flatly
“ultimately, owners make the call.”➤Despite the Nets’ logjam at
guard, Tyler Johnson admits he
spoke with other teams but insists
he was never worried about be-
ing re-signed in Brooklyn.
“I didn’t know I was supposed
to be worried,” said Johnson.KD to finally make return vs. ex-teammates
By Brian LewisThis isn’t just a huge sea-
son for Nets center Jarrett
Allen, but a pivotal month.
Allen may get his first
real shot at a title. But he’s
also competing against the
veteran he was benched for
last season, waiting to see if
he gets a contract exten-
sion by the deadline, and
finds his name in James
Harden trade rumors.
Welcome to training
camp, young man.
“You definitely see it,”
Allen, 22, admitted
Wednesday. “I definitely
see everything: I know
what’s going on, I’m aware
of all of it.
“At the end of the day, I
just try to put it aside. I
know it’s big decisions, de-
ciding where I’m playing
or deciding whatever hap-
pens at the end of the day.
It’s all basketball at the end
of the day, whether I’mhappy about what happens
or not happy. It’s all basket-
ball and I’m here to play it.”
If Allen was unhappy with
being benched for DeAndre
Jordan last season by then-
interim Jacque Vaughn, he
didn’t show it. Instead, he
used it as motivation to be-
come a better player.
“I’m not holding a
grudge against anything. It
just happened: It was the
best for the team,” said Al-
len. “In the bubble I
wanted to show that I
wanted to be a starter
again, and I was definitely
capable of playing against
playoff-level teams, against
any competition.”
With Jordan (COVID-19)
and Nic Claxton (injury)
both missing, Allen stepped
up as Brooklyn’s only cen-
ter. He flashed more and
made himself a target. He
improved as a passer and
found shooters in the cor-
ners — something that willstand him in good stead
with Kevin Durant, Kyrie
Irving and Joe Harris.
“Seeing J.A. down there
being able to anchor the
defense and talk as much
as he did, watching the
game and talking to him
throughout the bubble, it
was awesome,” Jordan
said. “He really took on
that role knowing he was
pretty much going to be
the only big man down
there that we had. But he
took it like a pro.
“I’m glad that he did. He
was successful down
there, and I’m excited to
see what effect it has on
this upcoming season.”
Before this season even
starts, the Nets need to
make a call on Allen. Last
year they handed rookie
extensions to Caris LeVert
(three years, $52.5 million)
and Taurean Prince (two
years, $29 million) despite
Prince not having not evenplayed a regular-season
second for them. Now, how
do they feel about Allen?
The young center al-
ready has racked up 20.0
win shares, the most of
any player in the 2017 draft
class, according to Basket-
ball-Reference. More than
Bam Adebayo, Jayson Ta-
tum, Donovan Mitchell
and De’Aaron Fox (all of
whom already got max ex-
tensions this offseason) or
John Collins (whom
Brooklyn reportedly in-
quired about before last
season’s trade deadline).
The Nets only have until
Dec. 21 — the day before
the opener — to agree on a
rookie extension. And
that’s if they don’t trade
him in a Harden mega-deal.
It’s an amount of uncer-
tainty the players are cog-
nizant of, but working
through.
“What am I supposed to
say? No?” Allen laughedwhen asked if they’re
aware. “Honestly,
we’re building camara-
derie. Everyone comes
in with a smile on their
faces, everybody
knows we’re ready to
work. There’s rumors
floating around there,
but that doesn’t change
how we treat each other,
how the bond we’re try-
ing to build is not stop-
ping our end goal at the
end of the day.
“At this point, anything
is in the air. I haven’t
been told what is going
to happen, I haven’t
been told what’s not
going to happen.
What I have been told
is just to get my work
in, try to improve my
game as much as
possible and get
ready for the sea-
son coming up.”
brian.lewis@
nypost.comNETS
NOTES