Getty Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant at Barclays Center.
At the beginning of the NBA free agency period on June 30th, All-Star forward Kevin Durant requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets after just three seasons. Durant, one of the most talented players in the NBA, had every team salivating at the prospect of adding him to their roster in hopes of delivering a title.
But Nets general manager Sean Marks and owner Joe Tsai have played hardball with the looming trade of their star. They have made it well-known that landing Durant in a potential trade will come at a hefty price.
So far, no team has made a substantial enough offer to make the Nets pull the trigger on a blockbuster trade for Durant. But one source told Heavy’s Steve Bulpett that KD and Joe Tsai are set to meet this week to hash out a plan.
“What I’m hearing is that KD is going to meet with the owner this week,” the source told Heavy Sports. “He’s going to go directly to the owner, Joe Tsai, sometime this week. We’ll see how that works.”
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Kevin Durant ‘Unhappy’ With Nets
When Durant and Kyrie joined the Nets during 2019 free agency, many were surprised by the move. Not only because Durant was leaving the Golden State Warriors after three consecutive trips to the NBA Finals. But also, because most assumed if Durant were going to come to New York, it would be to join the Knicks, who are the darlings of the city.
But the Nets haven’t enjoyed much success in the Kyrie, KD era. They have yet to make it past the second round of the playoffs since coming to Brooklyn.
In addition, several changes have come since KD’s arrival, including the team letting go of his long-time trainer Adam Harrington.
The executive also tells Heavy Sports that while Durant will meet with Tsai in the coming days, there is no guarantee that he will rescind his trade request.
“I don’t know, I have no idea what’s going to come of that meeting,” The executive added. “There are some things that KD is unhappy about, and I’m not sure any of that gets fixed here. But it does.”
Kevin Durant Not Likely To Sit Out if He Doesn’t Get Traded
It has been over a month since Durant made his trade request to the Nets , and there has been little traction on any potential deal. Tsai and the Nets have not been able to find a substantial enough offer to part ways with the All-Star forward, and the Harsh reality of it is that there may not be one out there.
Another executive told Heavy Sports that the most likely outcome of the Nets saga is them bringing back their All-Star trio of Kyrie, KD, and Ben Simmons.
“My bet is they don’t trade either one of them,” another league official told Heavy Sports. “Maybe Kyrie. I don’t see them trading Durant, because they’re not going to get back what they should. And I wouldn’t trade him either. The hell with it. He signed the deal. The hell with it, right?
I don’t see KD being a hard-line guy, either. If they can’t get a deal done, he’s just going to say, ‘[Expletive] it,’ and he’ll play — and he’ll play hard like he always does. I know KD, and he’s not going to sit out or anything like that. He’s not that kind of guy. There’s no way. He’s not going to do anything like that.”
The reality of the entire Nets saga is that neither Durant nor the Nets are likely to be satisfied in any trade scenario.
There is no trade package available that would compare to having Durant as the face of the franchise. And as for Durant, if he gets traded, the team he goes to would likely be depleted after parting ways with a gargantuan amount of assets to acquire him.
The reality is that Durant and the Nets need each other.
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