Getty Brandon Ingram #14 of the New Orleans Pelicans shoots the ball over Cameron Johnson #23 of the Phoenix Suns
Kevin Durant remains a member of the Brooklyn Nets over a week after his request for a trade. The star has been rumored in offers with a plethora of teams for a number of star players. However, despite all the discussions, there has been no real traction on any deals for the Nets superstar. Momentum for any deals were elevated when the Utah Jazz got a giant haul from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Rudy Gobert.
After the Gobert trade set a tone and raised the bar of trade expectations the Nets are reported to want the biggest trade in NBA history for their star.
“[The Nets] think this should look like one of the biggest trade returns in league history.” Adrian Wojnarowski reported on the July 6 episode of NBA Today.
.@wojespn with the latest on Kevin Durant’s trade request:
“[The Nets] think this should look like one of the biggest trade returns in league history.”
With that expectation, the Nets are operating under the odds that they can still decide to keep the star as he has four years remaining on his contract, and they do not have to trade him. So there is no real timetable for a Nets-Durant trade.
However, Brian Windhorst reported one trade gaining traction for the Nets is growing intrigue in a deal with the New Orleans Pelicans, with Brandon Ingram at the heart of the deal.
Nets and Pelicans Trade Discussions
NetsDaily shared insight from Brian Windhorst’s Hoop Collective onto their Twitter account, saying,
“Listening to Brian Windhorst on Hoop Collective. He keeps bringing up Pelicans as possible Nets partner with Brandon Ingram, the big possible piece coming back to Brooklyn. Also noted that Dyson Daniels, the No. 8 pick in 2022 Draft, remains unsigned and available.” NetsDaily tweeted.
Windhorst had Andrew Lopez on the recent episode of The Hoops Collective to discuss the possibility of a trade. Windhorst asked Lopez, who covers the Pelicans, what interest there is in a Durant trade.
“It makes sense. It’s a clean deal if they opted to be in it. Other teams, obviously the Phoenix which, has the base year compensation thing if they end up trying to trade DeAndre (Ayton). Things get complicated, and hard cap comes into play. If the Pels decided to put Brandon Ingram on the table, I think they only need four and a half million dollars to match salaries. You can go in there,” Lopez said.
The two reminded listeners that talks remain preliminary and no significant discussions have advanced, but it would make sense for each team. Windhorst also explained that the deal would have to include Brandon Ingram and that a deal wouldn’t get done with CJ McCollum at the center of it.
“I don’t know what they’re offering. Maybe they haven’t offered him yet, but if you put Griff (David Griffin, EVP of the Pelicans) on the stand and ask, ‘did you offer Brandon Ingram?’ he’d say, ‘No, your honor, that is not accurate, I suppose. I mean, if they are having conversations, they have to know it would involve Ingram. They’re not taking, with all due respect, a hot package around CJ McCullum.”
Will a Durant Trade Get Done?
The latest on Durant discussions were reported by Windhorst that the “bidding war isn’t really hot” for Durant at the moment. Largely due to the Gobert trade. Adrian Wojnarowski also reported on a July 6 episode of NBA Today that the possibility Durant stays in Brooklyn remains a major possibility.
“Absolutely, especially if this drags out and if there’s not a deal found here in the next month and it goes into August, and you get closer to training camp,” Wojnarowski said. “Brooklyn, they don’t have to take a deal that they don’t want to do. … But then, at the same time, Kevin Durant, as he looks at the situation, could he look at it differently over time? That’s certainly a possibility.”
If the Nets do keep Durant, it will certainly be a messy season in Brooklyn, but so was last year, and with a string of pretty decent additions with Royce O’Neale, TJ Warren, and others, they could still likely contend next year.