How Nets can pick up the pieces after Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving trades

The Nets tip off the second half of their season — and the post-Kevin Durant era — Friday in Chicago. 

It’s a fitting enough place. That’s where their Big 3 experiment ended. 

The Nets officially remade their team in a wild week earlier this month, first dealing Kyrie Irving and then Durant on Feb. 9. Their championship window slammed shut despite getting back four starters and a trove of draft picks. 

Now the Nets will spend the rest of the slate trying to reach the postseason and put together a plan for the offseason. That process starts Friday at United Center — which ironically is the last place the Big 3 played together. 

Durant, Irving and James Harden were supposed to bring championships — plural — to Brooklyn, but brought drama instead. They played just 16 games together, the last a 138-112 win in Chicago on Jan. 12, 2022. Afterward, Harden joked of Irving — barred from playing home games due to his anti-vax stance — “Man, I’m gonna give him the shot.” 

They never played together again, Harden forcing a trade the next month with Irving and Durant doing the same a year later. 

The Nets (34-24) are fifth in the East, with a cushion built from before the trade. They lead the Knicks by two games, seventh-place Miami by 2 ½. The goals have changed, with the second half of the season no longer about vying for a title but the start of (re)building a new team. Perhaps one the fans can embrace more. 

Most valuable player 

Two weeks ago, Durant was the obvious answer to this question. A month ago he was a contender for MVP of the whole league. But now? It’s Nic Claxton. 

The emerging young center is — along with Mikal Bridges — one of the few surefire foundational pieces the Nets have left. They rejected Toronto’s offer of a first-round pick for him last season; they’d likely turn down three times as much now. 

Claxton leads the league in field-goal percentage, blocks and blocks-per-game. His 6.6 win shares are best on the team (ahead of the departed Durant). And he’s defended the most isolation possessions (151) of anybody in the NBA, his 0.78 points allowed per iso on pace for the best in history. 

Least valuable player

Some might snark Irving, after his never-ending drama sank the team from the inside. But right now Ben Simmons is the least valuable and most problematic, both in terms of his onerous contract and his odious play. 

When the Nets got hit with Harden’s trade request, they pivoted and made Simmons the centerpiece of the return package from Philadelphia. But after not playing last season, he’s struggled this season, averaging 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists on .439 percent free-throw shooting, all career-lows. 

None of that would be so horrid if it weren’t for the money. The Nets are on the hook for $37.9 million and $40.3 million the next two years, making this arguably the worst contract in the NBA. 

Biggest surprise 

Irving demanding a trade. Durant — who had already requested a trade in the summer, only to be re-recruited — was always going to leave once Irving forced his way out. But the latter wasn’t seen as the foregone conclusion that it is with the benefit of hindsight. 

When Irving dropped his bombshell trade request on Friday, Feb. 3, it didn’t just shock the league, but surprised even his own team. To a man — from Jacque Vaughn to Joe Harris, Royce O’Neale to Nic Claxton — all insisted they’d gotten no warning whatsoever from Irving and found out the hard way. 

Biggest disappointment  

Not getting the Durant-Irving pairing to work. The Big 3 ended when they traded Harden a year ago this month, after just 16 games together; but they still had every chance to close the deal and win a title behind Durant and Irving. Having Durant on their roster made them a contender. Now that’s over. 

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it. It’s always difficult when you’re trading a player of that stature and that ilk; very difficult,” GM Sean Marks said. 

A staggering 30 of the 32 last NBA champions have been led by an MVP (past, reigning or future) on the roster. Having Durant put them at least in the conversation among the contenders. Now, playoffs or no, they’re firmly in the pretender bucket until they can sign, draft, develop or trade for another MVP. That could take awhile. 

Best moment

Their 18-2 blitz from late November to early January through the league had them looking title-worthy, and gave a tantalizing taste of what they could’ve been. Maybe even should’ve been. 

The Nets reeled off 12 straight wins, including a 31-point rout of defending champion Golden State and an 18-point victory two nights later over 2021 champ Milwaukee. Throw in a win at Cleveland in the next game and a surprisingly drama-free month, and the Nets were not only third-favorites to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy but had their fans believing again. That is, until … 

Worst moment 

Trading Durant. That isn’t to say that Mikal Bridges (whom the Phoenix Suns had refused to part with over the summer), Cam Johnson, four first-round picks and another swap is a bad return. It’s not, by any means. 

But Durant had requested a trade in June and been convinced in August to stick around by Marks and Nets owner Joe Tsai. And according to ESPN, Durant wanted to move but was not going to sit out the rest of the season. Perhaps a deadline day move or summer trade for another All-Star caliber player (Toronto’s Pascal Siakam?) could have convinced him again?

Biggest head-scratcher 

Their coaching decisions. 

First the Nets refused to fire Steve Nash in the summer despite Durant wanting him gone and the inexperienced coach’s message not getting through to the team. Then they did an about-face and gave him the axe after just seven games. 

Compounding matters, they turned a messy situation borderline toxic by pursuing suspended Boston coach Ime Udoka, again to placate Durant. He was just a month into a yearlong ban for inappropriate treatment of female Celtic staffers, and the move vexed multiple women in the offices of the Nets and parent company BSE. 

Now Vaughn has the job and he’s acquitted himself well, getting the interim tag dropped and given an extension on Tuesday. But the road here has been head-scratching. 

Upcoming decision

The Nets’ biggest decisions will be made in June and July, based partly on what they see in March and April. 

In a wing’s league, the Nets are sitting on a glut of them on this mismatched roster. They’ll almost certainly look to use some as trade bait in the summer to fill in some glaring holes (another big man, a shot-creating guard). 

Johnson is a restricted free agent, with one agent telling The Post that his floor is likely $18 million annually and that the sweet-shooting forward could easily be presented an offer sheet paying $20 million. A high-ranking league executive told The Post that the Nets rejected an offer of two first-round draft picks for Dorian Finney-Smith before the deadline; would they move him in the summer?