Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Kevin Durant made his first public comments since requesting a trade from the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday.
The 12-time NBA All-Star posted a cryptic message on Twitter Saturday morning:
Kevin Durant @KDTrey5
Those who have been locked in that gym with me know what it’s like, they know what I’m all about. If you haven’t been there with me, ask around
Durant’s business manager, Rich Kleiman, confirmed to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that the Nets are working to find a trade partner, and Voy reported that “more than half the teams in the NBA have already asked” what it would take to land KD .
Sometimes a team will balk if its best player wants a trade while he’s under a long-term contract — Durant is signed through 2025-26 as part of a four-year, $194.2 million deal — but it doesn’t look like that will be the case in this case.
Joe Varden of The Athletic reported Friday that Nets general manager Joe Tsai has “reached his limit” after three drama-filled seasons since the 2019 arrivals of Durant and Kyrie Irving.
“What Tsai will not do is demand that Durant honor his contract in Brooklyn. Because he’s had enough,” Varden wrote.
The Nets were expected to take the NBA by storm with the combination of Durant and Irving, and those expectations exploded even more when the organization acquired James Harden in January 2021 in a blockbuster trade with the Houston Rockets.
Instead of making a serious push toward a championship, a combination of injuries, wildly inconsistent play and Irving’s limited appearances last season due to issues related to his unvaccinated status created a never-ending headache for Brooklyn’s front office.
Harden lasted just one year with the organization before looking for an escape route, which was eventually found with a trade to the Philadelphia 76ers in February.
Now it looks like Durant and Irving will follow him out the door this summer.
Durant has always gone to great lengths to defend himself in the court of public opinion, including his infamous use of burn accounts, but there’s no question that the Nets’ downfall was a collective effort.
Still, Brooklyn drama aside, there’s clearly no shortage of interest on the trade market, and his upcoming trade has the potential to change the league’s balance of power.
The 2013-14 NBA MVP is coming off a season in which he averaged 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 2.1 three-pointers while shooting 51.8 percent from the field.
His future now becomes the biggest story of the offseason.
Add Comment