Kevin Durant is making all the moves he can to make sure the Brooklyn Nets trade him this offseason, even though KD signed a 4-year extension last offseason that will kick in for the 2022-23 NBA year. KD signed the extension when the team had Kyrie Irving and James Harden also angling towards re-signing, but neither player ended up committing to the team.
Harden was moved in February for Ben Simmons, and Irving hasn’t been able to agree on a new contract and is angling to leave at the end of the season. With KD possibly losing his running mate, he requested a trade on June 30 and no team has been able to match the price Brooklyn has for KD.
In order to put pressure on the Nets, KD issued an ultimatum to Joe Tsai where he demanded that the team chooses between him or Sean Marks and Steve Nash. With Tsai openly throwing his support behind Marks and Nash, it doesn’t look like KD is any closer to being traded. NBA Insider Brian Windhorst believed the move may have actually backfired on KD, as the Nets will not move him for cheap with a 4-year contract.
“This is an odd maneuver from Durant. I say maneuver because it was done very straightforwardly to get the Nets to act. Either to clean out their front office or coaching staff or to get things moving on a trade. The timing of it is very strange. The NBA is 75 years old and players have wanted their coaches fired for 75 years and I guess they’d want their coaches fired for 75 more years, it’s not something that’s unusual. But for him to not bring this up at the end of the season or when he requested a trade on June 30, it’s an unusual move and relatively easy for the Nets to say no to. The guy has asked to get out of this team, you can’t acquiesce to such a demand when he has 4 years left on his contract.”
With the roads in possible Durant trades narrowing, KD needs to be ready to possibly report to training camp when it begins in September. Despite there being interest from teams like the Boston Celtics and the New Orleans Pelicans, a trade for KD will not be cheap.
Any team that acquires KD will become a championship contender and the Nets are aware of the same. They are going to try and leverage this situation into the best possible outcome for them, with KD’s input on the situation most likely being tuned out after his acrimonious meeting with Tsai.
