Kevin Durant asks Brooklyn Nets to trade him

Just when you believed the 2022 totally free company period was likely to be an Ambien capsule, the Brooklyn Nets soap opera returned to inject an adrenaline needle to the vein.

Just a few times right after Kyrie Irving defused his very own ticking time bomb by opting to keep on being a Internet, Kevin Durant selected to easy his own exit route. The hottest Nets soap opera episode started Thursday with a mundane throwaway storyline in which the Nets acquired Utah Jazz defensive stopper Royce O’Neal. Having said that, in accordance to The Athletic’s Shams Charania and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Nets are in the procedure of acquiescing a trade demand Durant manufactured to owner Joseph Tsai.

The news shook the earth just times after Kyrie Irving decided to choose-in and commit to the Nets for a single a lot more period. In retrospect, the vow to satisfy his 4-year determination to the Nets could have been a passive-aggressive elbow in Durant’s direction.

When Durant chose to link up with Irving in Brooklyn, Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck published a column that spelled out Durant’s conclusion.

Through B/R:

“Durant had developed weary of the perpetual drama in Golden Condition, even even though leading the Warriors to two straight championships. What some observed refreshing about the Warriors — their huge personalities, their outspokenness on each on- and off-courtroom troubles — Durant identified distracting. He needed a staff that placed basketball above all else.”

The optimistic outlook back then was that Irving and Durant’s authentic friendship would mood their harmful tendencies. Any realist understood this was constantly how it was likely to conclude for these two. After they ended up on the courtroom together, sparks flew. In 2021, they conducted one of the most effective offenses in NBA record.

But off the court docket, they continuously arrived dangerously shut to detonating. Irving’s concentrate on basketball was often tenuous. 1 instant, his emphasis was exclusively on basketball and the upcoming, he was burned out, getting two-week sabbaticals, having a rigid stance towards the COVID vaccine even if it meant leaving his teammates on the hook. The shocker is that Durant was the 1 who pulled the pin on the Nets grenade.

When Durant is traded, it will be his fourth team in 6 many years. So the place will Durant’s travels choose him next? The landscape becoming so fertile for Durant can make that challenging to pin down, although Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes has documented that Durant’s preferred spot would be the Phoenix Suns.

Durant’s fascination tends to make limited cost-free agent Deandre Ayton a key indicator-and-trade applicant. Phoenix required a lifeline this offseason. Their reluctance to indicator Ayton to a 5-year $177 million extension or match the 4-12 months $131 million agreement that other groups can signal him to place them in a tricky place. Provided their restricted championship window, Phoenix would do whatsoever it usually takes to slot Durant between Devin Booker, perimeter defensive pincer Mikal Bridges and Chris Paul as soon as doable. The Nets may well need Bridges as a sacrifice, but it is one particular the Suns would make in a scorching 2nd.

The Portland Path Blazers have been lobbying difficult for Durant. Really do not be stunned if Mayor Ted Wheeler hosts a stay press meeting to woo KD to their title-starved hoops-obsessed metropolis. Portland has the greatest formulation of picks and younger talent to sacrifice to the Altar of Durant though sustaining a roster deep enough to contend. They could toss several firsts, Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe in Brooklyn’s course and equally teams could be content material. The Blazers may possibly battle to preserve Simons, but if it gets to be a dealbreaker, his luggage will be packed for him.

The Lakers tends to make perception on paper. Durant becoming a member of LeBron would be the ultimate mashup. For a long time, they duked it out as the prime-2 gamers in the league. They’ve both of those stumbled from their peaks, but their apex is so substantial, that they are still constantly prime-five players when they are at their worst. From the Brooklyn Nets’ angle, Anthony Davis, 29, may possibly have enough juice still left in his tank to be an All-NBA massive for yet another five several years. His porcelain bones will generally be a issue but when he’s healthful, he’s an elite, two-way velociraptor.

Miami bought the chilly shoulder from Jalen Brunson nowadays after he signed a four-yr $110M offer with the Knicks, but re-inserted by themselves into the Durant conversations.

However, the Warmth don’t very own a to start with-round decide until eventually 2024 and simply cannot give up consecutive firsts mainly because of The Stepien Rule, which helps prevent groups from remaining with out very first-spherical picks in consecutive drafts. For Brooklyn to surrender a participant of Durant’s caliber they’d very likely talk to for Bam Adebayo. The Nets would be precluded from swapping Durant for Adebayo simply because of an obscure rule that stops teams from obtaining two gamers who were being obtained via trades although they are on Selected Rookie Extension contracts. Just after trading for Ben Simmons at the trade deadline, the only way Adebayo could wind up on the Nets is if Simmons were being traded. That’s not exterior the realm of prospects, but not likely simply because his trade stock is in the basement.

Still, where by there is a will there’s a way. NBA execs have created the e book on twisting by company loopholes, but just for the reason that they can doesn’t mean they should really.

Two position-centers as the focal position of the Nets lineup for the up coming couple many years is as problematic as Embiid and Simmons plodding through the rush hour targeted visitors in the paint. Even so, a three-group trade in which Durant is whisked off to Miami, Bam transported to a different group, who traded their celebrity to Brooklyn would be amenable to Miami and Brooklyn. Finding that third team is easier explained than djust one.

The Nets will have a pile of options to assessment. Ultimately, wherever Durant finishes up will upend the league.