Getty Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant reacts during a playoff bout with the Boston Celtics.
Fans who were hoping to see a grand reunion between Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors next season will have to find some other daydream to help pass the time until training camp. For now, it looks as though KD will be sticking with his current club.
Per a statement from Brooklyn Nets GM Sean Marks on Tuesday, the two sides have decided to hit pause on their effort to secure a trade sending Durant elsewhere.
“[Nets coach] Steve Nash and I, together with [Nets owners] Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai, met with Kevin Durant and [manager/business partner] Rich Kleiman in Los Angeles yesterday,” Marks said. “We have agreed to move forward with our partnership. We are focusing on basketball, with one collective goal in mind: build a lasting franchise to bring a championship to Brooklyn.”
Durant had formally requested a trade on June 30, but teams have been unable (and/or unwilling) to meet the Nets’ sky-high asking price for the 12-time All-Star.
An Awkward Partnership
The fact that Durant wanted a trade and the Nets weren’t able to secure one is probably something that can be overcome. That said, things are probably going to be icy between KD, his coach and his GM while the baller remains in Brooklyn.
Earlier this month, Durant issued a “them or me” ultimatum to Tsai, indicating that he would only stay with the team if Nash and Marks were relieved of their duties, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. However, Tsai and Co. stood behind their guys.
Flash forward to now and it looks as though the 33-year-old has resigned himself to playing for the Nets for the foreseeable future with the same leadership structure in place.
Durant signed a four-year, $198 million extension with the Nets last offseason. He’s coming off an injury-plagued campaign that saw him appear in 55 games, averaging 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists per contest.
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Warriors Discussed a Durant Move
Although there were definitely some hurdles to clear where bringing Durant back to the Bay Area was concerned, league insiders reported that the Warriors were nonetheless weighing the merits of making a play for the star.
For his part, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said that “legitimate” league sources had informed him that a Durant trade was being discussed internally by Dubs brass.
“I think that the Warriors always believe in open throttle,” Windhorst told Dan Patrick in July. “The Warriors have shown that they don’t care what they spend. They spent $350 million this year on this team, and the Warriors have shown that they aren’t afraid to do it.
“They went out and got Durant in the first place… This is the way they go about it.”
Durant won back-to-back titles with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018. Along the way, he outdueled teammate Stephen Curry for a pair of NBA Finals MVP trophies.
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Nets Make Final Call on Ex-Warrior Kevin Durant’s Future