Kevin Durant is absolutely a top-tier superstar, and he has shown that he can be the No. 1 offensive player on a championship team in the past. He averaged 29.9 PPG, 7.4 RPG, and 6.4 APG for the Brooklyn Nets this season.
There is no doubt that Kevin Durant has received a lot of attention due to his trade request from the Brooklyn Nets. The latest update on that front was a report stating that the Boston Celtics have offered a Jaylen Brown-centric package for Kevin Durant.
Recently, NBA insider Jared Weiss of The Athletic has revealed that the Nets are attempting to “drive the market” on a Kevin Durant trade to avoid “Durant no-showing for training camp”.
In the aftermath of Charania’s report, several league sources who spoke with The Athletic believe the Nets are looking to drive the market and avoid the kerfuffle of Durant no-showing for training camp. Toronto has thus far kept Scottie Barnes out of a Durant deal, just as the Celtics are making Jayson Tatum untouchable. The Raptors could offer some combination of Pascal Siakam, Gary Trent, Jr., and OG Anunoby, and Brooklyn may want to get all of them with plenty of draft capital as well. There’s a remote chance Miami could make a Bam Adebayo package work that would make dumping Ben Simmons worthwhile for Brooklyn, since the two cannot be on the same team due to a rule prohibiting teams from trading for multiple players on maximum rookie-contract extensions. New Orleans lurks with Brandon Ingram and a draft pick stockpile.
There is no doubt that the Brooklyn Nets likely want the best possible return for Kevin Durant, and it makes sense for them to try to drive up the market with that report. However, they clearly want to get the deal done soon, to try to avoid a bad situation with Kevin Durant when training camp rolls around.
Hopefully, we see Kevin Durant end up on a franchise where he can win a championship. There are a few teams where he could do so, and we’ll see where Kevin Durant gets traded to in the future.
