Getty Kevin Durant #7 of the Brooklyn Nets shoots a free throw.
The Brooklyn Nets are dealing with a Kevin Durant trade request, and it has created a lot of drama for the organization this summer.
With such a large asking price for the superstar, Durant has proven difficult to move as not even the Boston Celtics offering Jaylen Brown was able to get the Nets to budge.
According to Heavy.com’s Steve Bulpett, Durant will be meeting with owner Joe Tsai about his trade, but it’s unclear if that will result in a rescinding of the request.
“What I’m hearing is that KD is going to meet with the owner this week,” the source told Bulpett. “He’s going to go directly to the owner, Joe Tsai, sometime this week. We’ll see how that works.”
If Durant’s request remains, the Nets might be forced to consider offers they don’t deem up to their standards. One with the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis might actually make the most sense, and Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey calls it a realistic option.
Durant For Anthony Davis
Landing an 8-time All-Star might be the best case scenario for the Nets in any Durant trade as it’d be a way for the Nets to remain competitive and it gives them a true star to build around.
Davis helped the Lakers win a championship with LeBron James, but pairing him with Durant might bring them even closer to a ring. Combining his idea with Eric Pincus’, who suggested a Kyrie Irving and Durant trade for Davis and Russell Westbrook, Bailey believes that could create a nightmare for the NBA.
“Kyrie is the move,” Pincus said. “They should offer [Anthony] Davis with [Russell] Westbrook. Try and get Kevin Durant. KD for AD and a pick is as close as [the Nets] will get to what they want.”
Durant and James are both well up there in age, but they would almost certainly have at least one more title run left in them. The window would be open even wider if Irving joined the pair in Los Angeles.
“The title window for a team with LeBron and Durant wouldn’t be open for too long, but it would be wide open,” he said. “Assuming availability (a big assumption, for sure), an offense with LeBron operating in the middle of the floor and flanked by Durant and Irving would be a nightmare.”
How Does This Work for the Nets?
As for the Nets, it’s tough to envision a world where they get better by trading away Kevin Durant, but Davis would still be a nice piece to build around if he stays healthy. If this proposed idea comes with some draft picks as well, then the Nets might not find a better offer than this one.
If Westbrook came over in the deal, he’d almost certainly have to be shipped out of town as a lineup featuring Ben Simmons, Davis and Westbrook would create lots of spacing problems.
Of course, all of this is just a hypothetical and it’s a bridge the Nets will cross if it ever comes down to it.
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