Shams Charania of The Athletic has reported that Kevin Durant remains adamant about leaving the Brooklyn Nets, which he addressed to the team in an early August meeting.
According to Charania, Durant has met with the Nets owner Joe Tsai. He did not want to remain with the Nets unless head coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks were let go.
As of now, Durant has publicly announced his wish to be traded from the Nets twice due to the lack of faith in the direction of the team. Regardless, the Nets remain adamant that they will not give Durant away without something equal in return.
Durant, Irving’s dilemma
Ryan Blackburn from Miles High Sports addressed a question regarding Durant and Kyrie Irving. Both Durant and Irving signed with the Nets in 2019 and formed what was at first thought to be a new super team in Brooklyn. However, after Durant missed out on the entire 2019-20 season due to his achilles injury and Irving’s vaccination status, the momentum was quickly put on hold.
Durant has only one game left under the four-year contract he signed with the Nets last offseason. Meanwhile, after initial uncertainty, Irving opted into a $36,5 million option with the Nets for one more year.
However, Irving has also expressed interest in joining the Los Angeles Lakers earlier in the offseason, and there’s a chance for him to do so via trade.
Blackburn said that with the Russell Westbrook trade ending in failure, the Lakers could replace Westbrook with Irving and build a contender around LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Durant’s potential trade
Sam Amick of The Athletic has reported that the Boston Celtics are the “unofficial front-runner” for a potential trade for Durant.
Amick has said that the Celtics have offered Jaylen Brown in the exchange for Durant. Brown is considered as the Celtics’ second-best player and has made it into an All-Star Game.
“Among the executives with whom I spoke, a Boston deal with Jaylen Brown as the centerpiece appears to be the unofficial front-runner here,” Amick said.
“In general terms, sources say the Nets are using the fact that the Celtics (and perhaps other teams) have made their second-best player available as a baseline of sorts in negotiations.
Translation: If you’re still trying to discuss a Durant deal without putting your second-best talent on the table, then just stop wasting everyone’s time and bow out of this race.”
According to Amick, the Nets used Brown in trade talks as a baseline when negotiating other teams. They are not interested in discussing trade offers unless their second-best player is included as part of the deal, at least.
There hasn’t been any indication which other teams might be offering their “second best player.” Amick said that because Durant is a top-three player and has a four-year contract without any trade or player option, the Nets have the right to not accept less than that.
“And who can blame the Nets for taking this stance? As our Seth Partnow reminded us in his NBA Player Tiers recently, Durant is as elite as they come: a “Tier 1A” player in the project in which Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James are the only other players to be given that distinction,” Amick said.