Since making his trade request official, Kevin Durant has completely hijacked the 2022 offseason. Despite free agency having opened up days ago, many teams and players find themselves playing a waiting game to see where Durant will land before it’s all said and done.
Unfortunately for the NBA community, there’s actually a decent chance that Durant goes nowhere — at least, for a while.
According to league insider Bobby Marks, Durant could still be on the team roster by training camp.
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KD still has several years left on his deal, so it’s not like he has much leverage in this situation. If the Nets don’t want to trade him, or can’t find a return they really like, they could just keep him around like the Lakers did with Kobe Bryant back in 2007.
If not, they still have no incentive at all to rush this process. As the summer progresses, new opportunities could open up for Brooklyn.
“One thing people are overlooking with this KD drama,” said one fan. “The Nets paid for a full season of recovery from his Achilles injury. For him to demand a trade after a season and a half… Not only was he signed to a max contract but also made the Nets sign a old a** Deandre Jordan along with Kyrie and then forcing them to gut their assets for James Harden who was about to become a FA. The Nets did absolutely everything he asked for.”
The Nets tried to take care of Durant, and it only ended in disappointment and heartbreak. Hopefully, Brooklyn is able to make the best of this whole ordeal and stack up on assets in exchange for a pair of disgruntled stars.
Still, no matter where KD ends up, it could take a while for things to progress. Sean Marks intends to get this right and will wait however long it takes to do what is best for his team.
