Kevin Durant
AP Photo/Darryl Dyck

The Brooklyn Nets are gaining confidence ahead of free agency and reportedly are the front-runners to sign Kevin Durant

The NBA free agency period doesn’t even begin until June 30, but it’s already heating up.

On Friday, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and former NBA center Kendrick Perkins discussed some Kevin Durant news. They reported that the Brooklyn Nets are gaining confidence ahead of free agency and that they’ve become the front-runners to sign Durant. If the Warriors superstar doesn’t opt in for another year in Golden State for $31.5 million, he’ll be a free agent come June 30.

Windhorst explained how Perkins is “not the only person involved with the NBA” who knows about the Nets-Durant news.

Durant would most likely miss all of next season. He ruptured his Achilles in Game 5 of the NBA Finals and may not step onto the floor until the 2020-2021 season. Therefore, there may be some risk with signing Durant, but at the end of the day, he’s a superstar. You don’t pass up on the opportunity to sign someone with that kind of talent, plain and simple.

The Nets are also gearing up to sign point guard Kyrie Irving.

Reports came out this week that they were beginning to become hesitant in the free agency process as far as signing Irving. It was said that they may not give Irving a contract if they couldn’t get Durant to sign with him. However, now that they’re getting closer to signing Durant, they’re therefore getting closer to signing Irving as well.

This doesn’t rule out the New York Knicks‘ chances of signing Durant though. The Knicks are currently still a landing spot for the 10-time All-Star, as they’d also be willing to risk the fact that he’d be sitting out for a year.

The Knicks just drafted RJ Barrett on Thursday, so a Barrett-Durant connection would be lethal for years to come.

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Ryan Honey is a staff writer and host of the Wide Right Podcast.