Getty Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets, who was linked to the Boston Celtics.
With Kevin Durant no longer wanting to be a member of the Brooklyn Nets, the team has to now exhaust every option in an effort to move their star player.
Durant has four years left on his deal with the Nets, so there’s not a huge rush in moving him, but if he decides to hold out in training camp, then it might be better to get something in return for him instead of nothing at all.
According to Heavy.com’s Steve Bulpett, moving Durant could be difficult to do if the Nets don’t lower their asking price. With him reiterating his desire to be moved to team owner Joe Tsai, the team might have to do just that, but Bulpett warns they might have to get “creative” with their options.
Nets Have Options
Durant first made his trade request on June 30, so saying there hasn’t been much movement on a deal might be an understatement. This comes back to the haul the Utah Jazz got in return for Rudy Gobert, and the Nets believe they should match that or even surpass it.
Bulpett thinks that is the team’s downfall at the moment, also adding in that they might have to rope in a third or even a fourth team to get a trade to work.
“If the Nets want to trade Kevin Durant, they’re either going to have to come down on what their asking price is or they’re going to have to get really creative and get a third or maybe a fourth team involved to make a trade work,” he said. “Either that or they just sit tight and bring Kevin Durant into camp, hope he shows up, and see what he and Kyrie Irving and a presumably healthy Ben Simmons, and see what they can do together.”
Convincing Durant to stay on the Nets might prove to be difficult considering he wants both Steve Nash and Sean Marks fired, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
What Path Will the Nets Choose?
At the end of the day, getting something back for your star player is better than getting nothing in return.
With the Boston Celtics reportedly offering Jaylen Brown in a deal, it’s not like teams were coming at the Nets with low offers, but instead with offers that came with high-quality players.
Ultimately, convincing him to stay would be the best case scenario, but that might not be the hand Brooklyn was dealt.
“Those are your three options: Lower your price, find another team to bring into it, or bring him back and hope that things work out there,” Bulpett continued. “Their shortest route to being a good basketball team in 2022-23 is for Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Seth Curry, Ben Simmons and Joe Harris to be on the floor together.”
There’s still a lot of time left in this offseason, so a massive trade can still happen, but time is eventually going to run out. If Durant holds out from training camp, the timeline might speed up a little bit.
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