NBA trade rumors: Should the Nets listen to offers for Kevin Durant?
Kevin Durant asked the Brooklyn Nets to be traded, then decided to stay. With all that’s happening on the team, should the Nets reconsider his request?
The big story of the NBA offseason was Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant’s request for a trade, after which the two parties appeared to have settled their differences as the forward eventually decided to stay with the team.
Nets struggle in 2022 season
Brooklyn was gearing up for what they hoped to be a better campaign for the championship, banking on the trio of Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons.
The Nets however have been off to a turbulent start, with a 4-7 record in the Eastern Conference. They have fired head coach Steve Nash (an action which Durant himself reportedly requested months ago), and are said to be planning to hire suspended Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka.
Most recently, star guard Irving is now suspended for posting an anti-Semitic video with no set date for his return, although the National Basketball Players Association is appealing his suspension.
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Revival of interest in Durant trade
In this landscape, the possibility of trading Durant is looming large.
According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, “the whole league is ready now to re-engage” in talks about a possible trade. On his podcast “The Lowe Post”, he said that NBA teams are likely to take the opportunity to try to obtain the services of the 2014 NBA MVP.
“The vultures are going to circle on Durant. Those vultures expect the Nets to put on a strong face for a while. To not rush it, to posture-probably honestly- that ‘no, he has four years left on his contract.’ Just like over the summer ‘he’s got four years left, we control the situation, we’re trying to win, we don’t want to do this.
“I don’t think this is going to be fast, I don’t know that it will ever really happen, but I know the whole league is ready now to re-engage on Durant,” said Lowe.
Brooklyn doesn’t appear to be in shape for a deep playoff run this season, and it would make sense to rebuild the team using Durant as capital to bring in a fresh haul of new talent in the 2023 draft. However, KD is still top-tier talent, and it would be understandable if the franchise may not yet be totally ready to release him.