Getty LeBron James #6 of the Miami Heat confers with teammates Chris Bosh #1, James Jones #22 and Udonis Haslem #40 during a game against the Boston Celtics
In the weeks following the news of Kevin Durant rescinding his trade demand, the reports have continued to roll in, and some of the major news that has followed is with how much the Brooklyn Nets were looking to trade their superstar following his trade request. Ethan Strauss reported on how the Nets conducted themselves with their calls for Durant trades.
“According to NBA insiders, Brooklyn’s effort to deal KD was largely fake,” writes Strauss. “Sure there were a few legitimate calls at the very beginning, when Durant made his ask. After that point, though, the trade discussions were mostly a façade, conducted simply to suggest the effort.
“As one GM put it to me, ‘There’s a difference between making a call and trying to build a trade. Brooklyn wasn’t trying to build a trade.'”
The Nets are believed to have gone through the motions of considering a trade merely “to to temporarily placate an audience of one, in hopes of getting him to accept that which he finds unacceptable.”
James Jones on Discussions with Brooklyn
Early on, the team most in discussion with the Nets in trade packages for Durant was the Phoenix Suns, and Suns GM James Jones, on Friday, told Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic that there was nothing really to the Suns negotiations with the Nets.
“We had discussions with Brooklyn about their desires and what they were trying to do, but ultimately, I would say like most teams, there was nothing to it,” Jones said.
Jones seems to confirm the reports from Strauss that the effort the Nets were making to trade Durant had more pageantry than substance. Jones also hints that he has heard similar sentiments from other team officials in their experience with the Nets in Durant negotiations.
Brooklyn’s stance, while annoying to some general managers that weren’t able to arrange a trade for the 12-time All-Star, it has been somewhat heralded by other team owners in how it may change negotiations with disgruntled star players that are under contract in the future.
Nets Set Blueprint for Handling Disgruntled Stars
The Miami Heat were one of the teams that were also widely reported to be interested in acquiring Kevin Durant this offseason. However, despite their names being mentioned as one of the most likely Durant suitors time and time again, the team was unable to get a deal done. One reason they may not have gotten a deal done was revealed by Shams Charania of The Athletic on the Stupodity podcast, where he revealed that the Heat never aggressively pursued a trade for Durant.
“The last time, Stugotz, the Heat called the Nets was right around Summer League or even maybe even before that,” Charania said. “… They never really aggressively pursued a deal because I think at the end of the day, they knew they would have had to gut multiple players.”
Both the Heat and Suns discrepancies in how their trade talks are interesting and are an inside peak into the NBA rumor mill and where the two teams were widely considered the top landing spots and both of their trade negotiations have been downplayed.