Kevin Durant’s recent trade request has sent shockwaves through the NBA, but not everyone is buying into its veracity.
ESPN NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins, for example, believes Durant’s request is just a gimmick.
“I look at him and I’m like, ‘Why would KD want to leave?'” Perkins said on “NBA Today” on Tuesday. “… And then all of a sudden, after Kyrie Irving opts out of his contract, Kevin Durant comes out and says, ‘I want to be traded.’
.@KendrickPerkins doesn’t believe Kevin Durant really wants to be traded 🤔
“It doesn’t make sense to me that he wants to be traded at this point. … I think Kevin Durant is doing this as a scare tactic to help Kyrie Irving have leverage.” pic.twitter.com/uyPWgKeZ3G
— ESPN’s NBA (@ESPNNBA) July 5, 2022
“I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t trust Kevin Durant. I don’t trust him at all. Truth be told, it doesn’t make sense to me that he wants to be traded at this point. I don’t believe he does. I think Kevin Durant is doing this as a scare tactic to help Kyrie Irving have leverage to sign him long term with the Brooklyn Nets.
Perkins’ theory comes amid reports that the Nets are “dampening the mood” that they may hold Durant until fall camp in an attempt to see if the disgruntled sides can resolve their differences. Durant, after all, has four years left on his contract; there is little incentive for Brooklyn to expedite the deal unless the asking price is met.
But the flurry of activity elsewhere in the NBA landscape — highlighted by Minnesota’s blockbuster acquisition of Rudy Gobert — fueled Perkins’ suspicions about Durant.
Kevin Durant requested a trade from the Nets last Thursday. Getty Images
“We’re talking about KD, a top-5 player, maybe the best player in the NBA, and he’s still not moved?” Perkins said. “Right now you’re sitting here telling me Kevin Durant is still on the market? … If you’re any other NBA team and Kevin Durant is on the market and you want to tell me that traction didn’t increase over the weekend? I do not believe it.”
On Sunday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the market for Durant is “still shaping up.”
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