The new Nets leadership dynamics emerging in the wake of superstar defections

An emotional Kevin Durant — being introduced to his new team — choked up when asked about his old one.

His voice cracked when he spoke about his time with the Nets and why things didn’t work out in Brooklyn.

The Nets assembled a superteam of Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden. Titles seemed a fait accompli. But fate flipped the script as the trio logged just 16 games together due to injuries and absences.

“I think when you see James, Kyrie, myself, it was amazing basketball for 17 games though,” Durant said with a rueful grimace during Thursday’s introduction in Phoenix. “In order for you to win a championship and be a great team, you just need more time on the floor. It’s another story about why we didn’t get on the floor together, but we just didn’t get enough time on the floor.”

Not nearly enough.

Harden essentially spent one season in Brooklyn, acquired in January 2021 and forcing his way out last February. Last season, Durant and Harden watched Irving refuse to adhere to New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates, which made him ineligible to play at home and essentially limited him to 29 games in 2021-22.

Irving demanded a trade this Feb. 3, and after he was dealt two days later. Durant — the last man standing — asked out the next day. And at his Suns unveiling, Durant admitted not winning a title in Brooklyn was galling and Irving’s departure was a tough pill to swallow.

“Yeah, I was upset that we couldn’t finish,” Durant said. “I thought we had some good momentum. We were finally building a culture that we always wanted. I felt like every game we were building our chemistry. I didn’t know what was going on with Kyrie and his situation with the organization, so I didn’t really focus on that.

“It was a blow to our team. It just took away our identity. He was a huge, huge part to what we do. His game, he’s a Hall of Fame player, a great, great player that can do everything on the floor, and we relied on that. Without him, we didn’t have a clear identity. So that was tough for me to stomach.”

Durant — who missed his first season with the Nets while rehabbing a ruptured Achilles — was emotional about his time with the Nets, but said he left with positive feelings and high hopes for the franchise’s future. Albeit without him.

“I built the family over there — it’s going to always be a part of my journey,” Durant said. “I love those guys. I get emotional talking about him because that was a special four years of my career coming off the Achilles, and they helped me through a lot.

“It was terrible how some stuff went down. But at the end of the day, I love the grind. We all loved the grind and I wish them the best going forward. They’ve got a bright future.”

Who leads them into that future?

A couple of players who just arrived in their midseason makeover: Mikal Bridges and Spencer Dinwiddie.

Durant essentially was traded to the Suns for Bridges, Cam Johnson and draft picks (four unprotected first-rounders, rights to a first-round swap and two second-rounders). Irving was dealt to the Mavericks for Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a first-round pick and a couple of seconds.

All four newcomers have been in the Nets’ starting lineup since arriving. But somewhat more surprising is that Bridges (in just three games) and Dinwiddie (in four) already have become leaders in the locker room.

“Hopefully guys are OK with me saying it, but it’s been great to form a relationship with this new group and see who’s the vocal person at times,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said. “Right now, I think it’s been Spencer and Mikal, just naturally their IQ and want and feel for the game.

“It’s not a knock on whether [Johnson] has also been included in the conversation. We’ve probably been the most vocal as a group and collectively talking together than I’ve been around a team in a long time. So it’s pretty cool to see. Guys who are hungry to win and also want to share knowledge and help younger guys behind them.”

Bridges’ and Dinwiddie’s manners of assuming that mantle are somewhat different.

Brooklyn Bridges

Bridges’ 25-point scoring average since arriving leads the team, and he’s likely the most gifted. Last season’s Defensive Player of the Year runner-up, he’s a two-way wing who was the centerpiece of a trade for a four-time scoring champ and former MVP.

To quote the great American philosopher Benjamin Parker: With great power comes great responsibility.

“It’s tough for me personally because I don’t wanna be that new guy they think that’s just talking too much and stuff — I just believe in this team a lot,” Bridges said. “So just trying to lead and just trying to do whatever it takes and trying to see what our best offense can be, what our best defense can be. Just because I know we’ve still got months left, but if we keep getting better and keep learning and keep growing together, I feel like we’ll be a scary team that teams don’t want to play against.

“…I just try to come out here and just bring the mentality of trying to win. It’s funny, because everybody else is the same way. If I say something, they’re always like, ‘Yeah, for sure, that’s what we want.’ So the guys in the locker room and the coaches make it so much easier for me. I appreciate them so much.”

Bridges went into the All-Star break coming off a career-high 45 points in a win over Miami. He’ll be a primary option, something he never would have been alongside Devin Booker in Phoenix. And he wasn’t going to inherit leadership reins as long as Chris Paul was there, though he did learn much from the future Hall of Famer.

“In Phoenix, there was no suppressing what anybody had to say — people were able to share their thoughts,” Johnson said. “So Mikal, as he came into his own more this year, and he’s just been such a steady presence over the last four years, five years, that that’s how he led, by just being out there, by playing hard. It was a real staple and anchor of the team.

“But he’s also a goofy personality, so he brought that attitude to the team, where a lot of times, he was the one that was lightening things up.”

Spencer the sequel

Dinwiddie already has become one of the other vocal leaders in the locker room, which is not overly shocking.

Finney-Smith, the power forward who arrived with him from Dallas, is the strong, silent type. Dinwiddie always has been more verbal.

Dinwiddie played in five seasons in Brooklyn from 2016-20, all of it with Vaughn as the lead assistant coach and Joe Harris as a teammate. The point guard is putting up 17.8 points and 5.3 assists per game since returning this month — virtually identical to his averages in Dallas.

“I think being comfortable here, knowing people, knowing this stuff,” Dinwiddie told the Post when asked about stepping into a leadership role. “Also having the ball in my hands, being a PG and trying to be connected to Coach, it’s probably that, too.

“And just I think very quickly guys will see that I’m out there just trying to win the game. Whether I shoot it, whether I pass it, whether I turn it over, I’m not hunting stats or trying to do something else. … Gaining the trust of the guys fairly quickly — and obviously there’s still a lot of building to go with that — but I think that’s kind of what allows me to do it.”