Getty Kevin Durant #7 of the Brooklyn Nets
Although it has been nearly a week since Kevin Durant made his trade request to the Brooklyn Nets, despite that, there hasn’t been much traction in getting a deal done. Several teams remain in the mix for a Durant deal including the preferred suitors of the Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat, as well as other teams tossed around in the mix, including the Golden State Warriors, New Orleans Pelicans, and even the Boston Celtics.
While the Nets have fielded a phone call from every team in the NBA about possible Durant deals the Brooklyn front office isn’t the only one making phone calls about the imminent trade. According to Yahoo’s Chris Haynes players have been calling Durant to try to pick his brain and make a pitch for the star to join their teams. However, unlike the Nets front office, Durant is apparently not answering the phone calls.
Durant Has ‘Gone Dark’
With multiple players reaching out to KD even just to see where he is at with trade discussions, Durant hasn’t been open to picking up the phone for any of them.
“Since he requested a trade, there’s been numerous stars that I’ve spoken to, numerous stars that have been trying to get in touch with him to pick his brain to see if he would consider other avenues, just want to get a sense of what he’s thinking—KD’s going dark,” Haynes said on his Posted Up podcast. “He’s not talking to anybody. Not answering anybody’s phone calls, not responding to texts. The only time you see him get out into the sunlight is when he responds on Twitter, and he’s not saying anything much on there.”
“KD has gone dark.”
@ChrisBHaynes and @VinceGoodwill go behind the scenes of the Nets and Kevin Durant trade talks on the latest Posted Up.
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This report from Chris Haynes does go against previous reporting that Durant has been in discussions with Warriors superstars amid the trade rumors and the Warriors reportedly interested in trading for him.
NBA insider Marcus Thompson of “The Athletic” says that the Warriors superstars (Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson) have been in contact with Durant about a potential reunion this offseason.
“The Warriors superstars have been in conversations with Durant. In addition to catching up, the Hall of Fame-bound peers did entertain the idea of a reunion,” Thompson writes.
However, Thompson did note that the trade remains unlikely between the Warriors and Nets, but it did bring them to talk according to Thompson.
“It was mostly about the stunning nature of it even being possible. The idea of them playing together again had to seem impossible when Durant left in free agency in 2019. It isn’t lost on them how life has contrived an opportunity for them to come full circle. They see it, like everyone else, and talked about it, like everyone else.”
Durant Could Remain on Nets
Despite the reports of trade discussions the likelihood of Durant staying in Brooklyn remains a growing possibility. 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.”