Kevin Durant is one of the biggest names to have been available on the trade market in a long time. The last time we saw a Finals MVP demand a trade, it was Kawhi Leonard in 2019 from the San Antonio Spurs. That trade was straightforward because Leonard was on an expiring contract, and the Raptors’ 1-year bet led them to become NBA Champions.
Durant has requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets after signing a 4-year extension, meaning he will be locked into whichever team he gets drafted to for the foreseeable future. For the Nets, this has increased Duran’t value, but it doesn’t seem like the market is responding.
After the Utah Jazz received 4 picks from the Minnesota Timberwolves for Rudy Gobert, the Nets have set a high asking price to trade for KD. However, Brian Windhorst has said that it doesn’t look like the league is rushing to pay that price just yet.
“When the Nets put him on the market, they thought there would be a tremendous bidding war. While there is a lot of interest, that bidding war isn’t really hot right now. Teams have made their offers and they don’t really feel the need to act on it.”
“The Jazz made this trade with Rudy Gobert where they get an incredible haul of draft picks, which the Nets responded to by saying the price for Durant just went higher. The rest of the league is saying we don’t like that trade.”
“Teams are not trying to outbid each other. It doesn’t make sense for them to sell their house to buy a car, even though the car is a Lamborghini like Kevin Durant.”
The Nets are not in a rush to trade KD, so they may just hold on to him until a team gets desperate enough to pay his price. We will be able to tell when the Kevin Durant sweepstakes have lost momentum, as we are still waiting on big names like Deandre Ayton and Collin Sexton to get contracts because teams are eyeing flexibility for a possible KD trade.
