Kevin Durant was given complete control over the Brooklyn Nets. When he signed on to join, he hand-picked Steve Nash and lured Kyrie Irving to come and join him.
Over the next three years, the team catered to his every whim as they hoped for a championship.
Unfortunately for Brooklyn, KD wants out now, and he has resorted to making ultimatums in an attempt to get his way. On ESPN’s First Take Tuesday morning, esteemed sports broadcaster Stephen A. Smit gave his perspective on the situation and suggested that the Nets aren’t going to send KD anywhere.
“I’m Joe Tsai. With Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. I got all these cats in tow and I got news for you: Milwaukee should be the favorite in the East, but is anybody prepared to definitively say that if Kyrie, KD, and Ben Simmons play together healthy all-in from the beginning of the season, are we definitively ready to say that they can’t beat anybody? We know that they can win it all. If you’re Joe Tsai, this is your position. To hell with all that, you ain’t going nowhere. Next summer, I will take care of you. I will take care of you and move you wherever you want to go. But you gonna give me this year. I got you four years! Everything that he wanted they gave him everything, everything. The point is you are not going anywhere.”
.@stephenasmith doesn't see the Nets moving Kevin Durant anytime soon ⬇️
"[The Nets] got you four years! … everything that he wanted they gave him everything, everything. The point is you are not going anywhere." pic.twitter.com/xSbYFUsztt
— First Take (@FirstTake) August 16, 2022
Normally, there isn’t much a team can do when their star player asks for a trade. Instead of taking the risk of losing them for nothing, the team will typically honor the player’s wish and move them for a premium package. A lot of times, it equals out to a win-win.
In this case, with four years left on his deal, Durant doesn’t really have the leverage to force Brooklyn’s hand. If Joe Tsai and Sean Marks just decide to sit on this, there’s nothing Durant could do except just refuse to play.
But at 33 years old, he doesn’t have many opportunities left to capture another title before the end of his career.
