It’s been just over a month since news broke that Kevin Durant had requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets have leaked some rumors about packages from other teams, including a mock one from the Timberwolves and a response from the Celtics to a trade proposal that reportedly included Jaylen Brown, but some Didn’t even look close to happening.
So for now, Durant remains in Brooklyn, which has publicly expressed a desire to take Durant and Kyrie Irving to training camp and eventually if an offer doesn’t meet their high demands. Is Durant getting desperate for a deal? The longer it goes on, and as Irving’s feelings for the play wear off, is he rethinking his willingness to give it another go with the Nates?
Perhaps those talking points will be on the docket when Durant meets with Nets owner Joe Tsai, which he is scheduled to do this week, according to longtime NBA reporter Steve Billpett.
“What I’m hearing is that KD is going to meet with the owner this week,” the source told Heavy Sports. “He’s going to go directly to the owner, Joe Sai, sometime this week. We’ll see how that works out.”
Whether the meeting is intended to smooth over a relationship that suffered at least a hairline fracture when Durant, who had four years remaining on his contract, asked to be traded, is uncertain.
“I don’t know,” the source said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen in this meeting. There are some things that KD is unhappy with, and I’m not sure that any of that is going to go well here. But maybe.”
Net has some advantage here. Any time a superstar requests a trade, it’s sticky for a team, regardless of contract status, but the fact that Durant is entering the first year of a four-year deal means that Brooklyn Nothing less than a monster would give it to him. The return may be there is no team that can justify paying that much.
If the Nets want their best shot at a title, they will stand tall and retain Durant, Irving and Ben Simmons. This is a trio that can compete for a championship if they collectively commit to that goal and stay healthy. On the other hand, the second Durant gets traded, the Nets become a significantly worse team.
The rub is that Durant is refusing to play for the Nets, but it’s hard to imagine him doing that. Durant, who will be 34 when the season starts, is a hopper. If it comes down to it, he’s going to play basketball and play as hard as he can. This isn’t Houston James Harden we’re talking about. Durant is as reliable a superstar as there is. He can request a trade. He has that right. But Brooklyn doesn’t have to. We will see what the outcome of this reported meeting is.
