It is very rare that a superstar player requests a trade with four years left on his contract. However, that is exactly what happened when Kevin Durant requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets earlier this offseason.
Even though Kevin Durant wants out currently, it seems as though the Brooklyn Nets have not given up hope of him retracting his trade request, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN. If Durant were willing to return to the Nets and play with Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons, it is quite likely that the Brooklyn Nets would be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.
Even before the Minnesota Timberwolves warped the trade market by flipping five draft assets for Rudy Gobert, several smart people around the league termed the very act of trading Durant “impossible” in conversations with ESPN. There was no way to approximate fair value. A player of Durant’s caliber with so many years locked in had never before become available.
The Nets are probably waiting for Durant’s camp to realize that, and maybe for Durant to retract his trade request. The Nets have not given up on this scenario, sources say.
Suitors are waiting to see if Brooklyn concludes that kind of reunion is not possible. Durant could accelerate that process by publicly or privately explaining his trade request, and emphasizing he will not back off. Would such a stance mean sitting out — as Ben Simmons did last season? I don’t know. League insiders repeat the trope that Durant “is not wired that way” — that he loves the game too much. But that is speculation. Time will tell.
It remains to be seen if Kevin Durant will still want to get traded in the coming months, or if he will change his mind and decide his best chance of winning at the highest level is with the Brooklyn Nets.
There are definitely other teams than the Brooklyn Nets that Kevin Durant can go to and compete for a championship. Hopefully, we see Kevin Durant be able to have a real shot at the title, whether he ends up playing with the Nets again or another team.
