The Nets Grab Two Big Stars—and Can’t Tell Anyone for Days

(Bloomberg) -- The Brooklyn Nets had a franchise-defining day Sunday, reaching deals with a trio of big-name NBA free agents, including Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, who can potentially reshape the league’s balance of power.

But if you went to the team’s website Monday morning for details, the lead story was a June 24 piece about two draft picks, “Nets introduce Nic Claxton and Jaylen Hands.” Not a word about the deals, which are reportedly worth close to $350 million and made the team the talk of the NBA.

There are no official Durant or Irving Nets jerseys for sale, no mention of either player on the team’s website. And while fans can buy ticket packages, the Nets’ sales team can’t yet actively mention the new stars, including DeAndre Jordan, the third player signed.

Because of league rules, the deals can’t be officially signed or discussed until July 6, when the league is also free to begin marketing them. So while Twitter is buzzing with news of the transactions, the team is silent.

“The news cycle today is so fast that if you miss your moment in the sun, there’s no getting it back,” said Allen Adamson, co-founder of the consulting firm Metaforce. “Fortunately there’s a lot of buzz already, but they won’t be able to add any rocket fuel to it.”

LeBron James played it right with his 2014 decision to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He made his announcement after teams were allowed to finalize deals, meaning management could market their big star right away. Cleveland sold out its entire season-ticket allotment in less than eight hours.

The NBA’s free agency rules are set up to encourage a more balanced and deliberate process. By the letter of the law, teams weren’t allowed to officially talk to players until Sunday night, starting a six-day clock during which players could agree to deals but not officially sign them. That theoretically gives all teams an opportunity to speak with players they covet.

But with so many unofficial channels of communication between players and teams, the system often breaks down. Within the first six hours of this year’s free agency, news outlets reported dozens of deals.

It’s unclear how much this quiet period affects things like ticket and merchandise sales, though a big event can trigger excited fans to open their wallets.

“For the die-hard fans that want those jerseys, they’ll wait,” Adamson said. “But in terms of enhancing the news and really trying to go from good to great, timing is everything.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Eben Novy-Williams in New York at enovywilliam@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum, Jonathan Roeder

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