The Brooklyn Nets have truly been the belle of the ball so far during the offseason. The ongoing drama within the franchise with its stars has been the cause of this, so perhaps not in the way they might have wanted. Kevin Durant’s trade request, his subsequent ultimatum, and the aftermath of that are still being discussed daily around the NBA world.
Many believed that after Nets owner Joe Tsai sided with Sean Marks and Steve Nash over KD, the writing was on the wall, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. While trade talks are reportedly still being held with various teams, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst has suggested that it’s not what the franchise wants. He explained that the way the Nets have been acting is signaling that they wish to give it another shot with the team they have (via RealGM).
“Right now, I think the Nets want to run this team back and they’re hoping Kevin Durant agrees,” said Brian Windhorst. “The way they’re conducting trade talks and the prices they are asking has teams out there thinking they don’t really want to trade Kevin Durant anyway. They want to bring this team back. We’ll see if Kevin Durant goes along with that in training camp.
“That’s what I think the team wants. I think the team thinks the results on the court will make everybody feel a little bit better. But I just can’t get a good feel on where Kevin Durant is. He has been asked to be traded and told no, so far at least. He has asked for the coach to be fired. He has asked for the general manager to be fired. He keeps getting told no.
“Does he take all of those ‘no’s’ and still show up to training camp? That’s something I think we’ll have to wait and watch.”
Kevin Durant alone knows how he might react to the way things are going. He always has the luxury of the extreme option, he could simply refuse to play for the team. However, as many have maintained throughout this saga, KD is all about hoops and being on the court. If that is what the Nets are counting on, maybe fans might just see Durant balling out in a Nets jersey once again.
