The Brooklyn Nets are on firm footing now, prepared to tank and rebuild in earnest. But the journey they went on to arrive here, which began when they inked Kyrie Irving to a four-year, $141 million deal in 2019, involved traveling over a whole lot of shaky ground.

Irving arrived as a package deal with Kevin Durant and Deandre Jordan.

“In my heart, I always knew I wanted to play at home,” he said. This came after Irving pledged allegiance to the Boston Celtics and bounced, of course.

From there, the Nets endured almost nonstop drama.

Kenny Atkinson was fired in March 2020, and Steve Nash took over as head coach in what Irving ominously termed a “collaborative effort.”

Irving took an unexcused leave of absence to attend his sister’s birthday on January 7, 2021, refreshing rumors of his unreliability. The team traded for James Harden a week after that, but Irving’s refusal to comply with COVID-19 vaccination mandates meant he didn’t play for several months of that season. Harden was gone, for Ben Simmons, at the 2022 trade deadline.

Then came the impasse on a contract extension after the 2021-22 season, which bled into Irving seeking sign-and-trade opportunities to get out of Brooklyn. Finding none, he eventually opted into the final year of his deal.

Durant made and rescinded a trade request, Irving promoted a documentary with antisemitic views on social media and was suspended after initially refusing to apologize, and Nash was soon fired. Irving requested a trade ahead of the 2023 deadline, landing with the Dallas Mavericks for a return best described as surprisingly solid.

That’s a lot to digest, but in all, the Nets won a single playoff series with Irving around, were constantly in the news for reasons that had nothing to do with basketball and ultimately reduced their roster to rubble.

The potential of the Irving signing was high, and Brooklyn might not have landed Durant without Irving. It’s something of a miracle the Nets emerged from the saga in one piece, but I’m not sure they’d go down this road if they had it to do over again.