When Kevin Durant demanded a trade from the Brooklyn Nets, most expected a bidding war to take place. After all, he is one of the best players of our generation and still has four years left on his contract.
Also, at the age of 33 years old, he still has some basketball left in him if he can manage to stay healthy. But to everyone’s surprise, the expected bidding war for Durant never came. In fact, if anything, for the last few days, there have been no major developments in any team trading for KD.
Moreover, it feels like Durant’s path to other teams is slowly but surely closing. With the Phoenix Suns matching the max offer sheet for Deandre Ayton, he cannot be included in any trade talks until mid-January. This means other dark horses could very well swoop in and trade for Durant.
One such team is the New Orleans Pelicans. The Pelicans have the assets to acquire Durant, but whether he will agree to play there or not is a huge issue. Additionally, as it was reported earlier, NOLA is reluctant to include Brandon Ingram in any trade package for Durant.
Despite that, as per NBA insider Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, the Nets made the Pelicans an offer for Kevin Durant in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Larry Nance Jr., and multiple first-round picks. As expected, Nola declined the offer.
Via Sportskeeda:
I know the Pelicans and the Nets were talking. The Nets wanted a package that included Larry Nance, Brandon Ingram and picks. The Pelicans are in the best situation because they have six first-round picks from trades they did in the past with the Lakers and the Bucks. You have the Suns, which could be any iteration of Cam Johnson, Devin Booker and others.
Kai and Kevin are a package deal. This goes all the way back to when Kevin was a member of the Warriors; Kai was a Celtic. I spent some time with them during All-Star break in Charlotte in 2019 at Michael Jordan’s party that he has every year. Those guys were inseparable. … It’s a four-year partnership.
As Scoop B mentioned, the Pelicans indeed have great assets and multiple picks that they acquired from trades with the Lakers and the Bucks.
But it appears NOLA will not include Brandon Ingram in any deal. Of course, KD is a phenomenal player, but he is 33 years old. Ingram, on the other hand, is just 24 years old and has a similar game to KD. Of course, Durant is still far better than him as a whole.
