Kevin Durant was the biggest talking point of the 2022 offseason with his trade request that also led him to ask for the firing of coach Steve Nash and GM Sean Marks. Coach Nash and GM Marks are still part of the Nets, but so is Durant, who owner Joe Tsai refused to trade after seeing the return they’d get for him.
Kevin Garnett couldn’t believe the fact that KD stayed with the Nets, even after everything that happened. KG pointed out that KD upset the Nets and people around the league because he used his leverage, but he doesn’t understand why he’d come back.
“KD didn’t get traded. Lowkey, controlled his movement. Do you know why they didn’t love it? Because he got the leverage himself, you understand what I’m saying? I heard him almost going back to Golden State, I heard that. I heard that was a real thing. I couldn’t understand it, I’ve never seen a situation where a guy tells the owner, the a b and c of it, and then it don’t get done, and the guy is ‘okay cool, I’m coming back’.”
It was anti-climactic to see the months-long KD-Nets standoff end with the team and player just having a conversation and getting back to the same page. While people are going to continue discussing KD trades through the season, it seems like a failed season could be the catalyst behind the Nets agreeing to move KD, possibly for a more reasonable price then.
Could Kevin Durant Ask Out During The Season?
The Kevin Durant situation closed so suddenly that many people still have a hard time believing the full situation was just settled by the player without any of his requests being met. Many people have theorized that KD might be biding his time for a better time to request a trade.
The ‘better time’ won’t come before next season as the Nets have no incentive to move off KD during the season unless they get a package they’re blown away by, which is nearly impossible at this point.
KD is going to see this season out with the new Nets lineup, which looks promising. If Ben Simmons can deliver his All-Defense level of play and Kyrie Irving can be available alongside Durant on the court, the team will be successful and KD will give that a chance to play out before asking out again.
