Kevin Durant is one of the best players in the world, and there’s no doubt that a lot of teams would love to have him on their rosters. He has notably requested a trade this offseason, which has led to a lot of conjecture about where he will end up in the future.
A recent update on Kevin Durant’s situation with the Nets was provided by NBA insider Shams Charania, who revealed that Kevin Durant provided an ultimatum to the franchise, asking them to choose between him or Sean Marks and Steve Nash.
A report by Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com revealed that coaches and executives around the league aren’t happy with Kevin Durant’s request, with some pointing out that the front office has done everything that he and co-star Kyrie Irving wanted.
Understandably, peers of Marks and Nash were not happy.
“I get that players have more power these days, but I think it’s a little too far if he’s out here trying to get Steve fired,” said one coach, who was quickly reminded of Magic Johnson’s fingerprints on Paul Westhead’s firing back in November of 1981 and other power plays, some of which may well have been justified.
The head of basketball ops from another club was similarly displeased.
“Livid,” he said. “Livid. He and Kyrie (Irving) basically told Sean they were coming (as free agents in 2019), and Sean did pretty much everything they wanted after that. Signing DeAndre Jordan for four years? That’s something Kyrie and KD wanted. Getting James Harden? Then getting a guy who should be a perfect complement to them (Ben Simmons) when Harden wanted out? Sean did all that.
“And now KD doesn’t like how it’s all worked out? There’s probably some other people he should talk to about that, maybe even a teammate,” he said, acknowledging that he was referring to Irving.
It is easy to see why some in the league might be frustrated with Kevin Durant’s conduct. The Nets did provide Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving with a lot of the things that they wanted, but unfortunately, the team simply wasn’t able to get to the Finals or win a championship.
It remains to be seen how this situation continues to develop. It seems likely that Kevin Durant will be traded at some point in the future, but the destination remains unclear. Hopefully, we see Kevin Durant on a good team, no matter where it may be.
