The divorce between Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets is still developing, without any good update for the player, who appears to be set to start the next season at Barclays Center. After making it clear last week that he didn’t like the direction the team had taken, a new potential suitor for Durant’s services appeared, once again making this saga the talk of the town.
He was spotted working out with James Harden in Barcelona after the Philadelphia 76ers were named a ‘desired landing spot‘ for Durant, which seemingly got him close to a move to the Sixers, but nothing has happened so far.
Moreover, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the Brooklyn Nets are fine the way they are right now and have no urgency to trade Durant despite this recent interest from the Sixers. During today’s edition of Get Up!, Windy had this to say (28-second mark):
“Ten days ago, Kevin Durant and Joe Tsai met in London. Durant really tried to apply the pressure by asking for Steve Nash and Sean Marks to get fired. And guess what has happened? Nothing. Nothing has happened. The dynamic around Kevin Durant hasn’t changed at all. There hasn’t been an urgency in trade talks. There hasn’t been a change in strategy by the Brooklyn Nets.
“I think what we have here is really a study of leverage. First off, the Nets do not have leverage in trade talks with other teams. They are not giving them the offers that they want. They see no reason to increase them. And so they’re not making any progress there. And Kevin Durant clearly does not have leverage with the Brooklyn Nets. He is asking for things: ‘Get me traded. Fire the coach. Fire the GM.’ He is being told no. So when you have denied leverage, you have a stalemate.”
Just when everybody thought Durant could manage this situation the way he wanted, the Nets aren’t giving in to his demands. They know they can wait four years to trade him, and even if they don’t find a trade partner for KD, they’ll be fine with Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons. Still, if no team offers a compelling package to them, perhaps KD sitting out the upcoming season could hurt his own trade value.
He’s not getting any younger, and the Nets are well aware of that. The Nets have been linked with Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics, while it is unclear what type of package the Sixers would send to land Durant.
