Getty Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics and Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets.
NBA legend and former Boston Celtics center Shaquille O’Neal was asked on The Rich Eisen Show to give his thoughts on the recent rumors involving the Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets. O’Neal was blunt when asked if the Celtics should trade Jaylen Brown for Kevin Durant.
“No, not at all. You have a young nucleus that you can build, and you can trust; I would keep [Jaylen Brown]. I don’t know what everyone else was watching, but Jaylen was hanging pretty tough with Durant. Looked like that to me. So, no. The answer is no. Excuse me, the answer is hell no.”
O’Neal opposed the hypothetical trade from Boston’s end but also voiced his displeasure regarding Durant’s trade request. O’Neal believes that Durant should stick it out with Brooklyn since he basically created the team but knows Durant will probably want to go to a contender.
“When you put a house together, you should live in it,” O’Neal explained metaphorically. “You, as a leader, should make it work, but you don’t want to make it work; I guess you go buy another house. You know, he’s probably trying to get to a contender. It’s easier that way.”
Durant may heed O’Neal’s words, as he reportedly will meet with Nets ownership this week.
Durant Will Meet With Joe Tsai
Steve Bulpett reported on August 2, 2022, that Durant plans to meet with Tsai and Nets management to discuss his trade request.
“What I’m hearing is that KD is going to meet with the owner this week,” a league executive told Bulpett. “He’s going to go directly to the owner, Joe Tsai, sometime this week. We’ll see how that works.”
The executive added that he does not know if anything will change regarding Durant’s trade request when the meeting is over because it could go either way.
“I don’t know,” said the exec. “I have no idea what’s going to come of that meeting. There are some things that KD is unhappy about, and I’m not sure any of that gets fixed here. But maybe it does.”
Durant’s situation has been compared to Kobe Bryant‘s trade request back in 2007, where he very publicly demanded out from the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers did not pull the trigger on a trade, which led to the team winning two more championships with Bryant leading the way.
Of course, things could go the other way for Durant. If it does, Boston could get in on a deal, but an earlier report from Bulpett disputed the claim that Boston made an offer to begin with.
Celtics May Have Never Offered Brown for Durant
When Shams Charania reported that the Celtics had offered Brown, among other assets, for Durant, a general manager told Bulpett that the Celtics never made that offer but rather called to inquire as other teams did on Durant.
“You may ask a team what they think of a certain one of your players, and the next thing you know they’re telling someone you offered him,” the general manager said. “You didn’t, but that’s how this thing works sometimes. It sucks — for you and for the player involved — but it’s the way it is.”
Whether the Celtics made that offer or not, Brooklyn still demands a high return for Durant in a trade, which may be why he’s still a Net and why he’s meeting up with ownership.
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Ex-Celtic and NBA Legend Sounds Off on Kevin Durant Trade Buzz