Nets GM: Durant said he loves the team's system

Although Kevin Durant did not meet with the Brooklyn Nets or inform them of his decision before announcing his intent to join the team, he soon made it clear to the organization how they'd managed to secure his services.

"He said a couple things," Nets general manager Sean Marks explained on WFAN's "Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts" show Tuesday. "'I love the system. I love how you guys play. I see how hard you guys play. You were never out of games. We could never take you guys lightly.' That was one of the first things (Durant) said. 'If we were up 10 with two minutes to go, we knew that didn't mean anything about Brooklyn.' That's a real credit to the competitive environment that (Nets coach) Kenny (Atkinson) has brought."

In his third season with the team, Atkinson coached his roster of cast-offs, understated veterans, and low draft picks to a 42-40 record and produced the team's first playoff appearance since 2015.

Marks said the entire organization "has to change slightly" and learn from its new crop of veteran free agents, which also includes Kyrie Irving, DeAndre Jordan, and Garrett Temple.

"But I can assure you, Kenny is not going to be anything different than who Kenny is," Marks added. "That's who he is. People expect that. And the great thing is when Kyrie, and KD, and DJ, and Garrett all came in here, they knew what to expect. They knew what Kenny is and they talked about it, and they said they loved the emotion he showed."