With four years left on his current deal, the Brooklyn Nets do not have to honor Kevin Durant’s trade request. In fact, some said the Nets shouldn’t bother.
Weeks after making his original demand, Durant met with Nets owner Joe Tsai again to double down on his move and make an ultimatum that would force Tsai’s hand.
Instead, it has only led to chaos as the team decides the best course of action.
The whole thing has shocked some insiders, who mistakenly believed that KD would just accept Brooklyn’s decision to keep him.
(via ESPN’ Brian Windhorst):
“I think even a week ago there was a thought in the league that this could take the same path that the Kobe Bryant trade demand happened in 2007,” said Brian Windhorst. “Kobe said ‘I’m not going to play another game in a Laker uniform’, they couldn’t find a trade and they ended up making the Finals the following year. That was the path the Nets were on. Durant has basically said ‘That’s not going to fly.’ At least for today. This situation obviously could change in a month. He’s basically said ‘I’m not going to go the Kobe path and I’m not just going to accept my situation and hope things eventually change. I still want out of here.’ When you look at that way, it is the most important thing that’s happened here. The status quo is not an option.”
Durant really doesn’t have much leverage in this situation, which is what makes his stance especially hard to understand.
Even if he does get traded in the next few days, weeks, or months, whichever team he chooses will have to gut much of their roster to pull off a deal.
Yet, Durant is still committed to making this happen. At the very least, he’s not going to settle for the same situation he’s been in for the past three years.
