KD is Going to Stay in Brooklyn
Kevin Durant has reiterated his desire for a trade from the Nets. Well, he said he wanted to be traded, or for Sean Marks and Steve Nash to be fired. It is a real high school level of handling his feeling about being on a team going nowhere fast. I still do not think he will be traded, and I do not think Marks or Nash will be let go. Let’s discuss.
Durant is one year into a four year deal. I know that doesn't mean what it used to, but it is harder for a contract like that to be dealt. There is also the fact that any team that is trying to trade for him is going to have to give away multiple guys and a whole ton of current and future draft picks. The Nets will want one of those guys to be an all star too. And we also have an oft injured KD who is 34. He is still great, top five in the league. But he is old, he ruptured his achilles in 2019 and age is undefeated. He has also shown that, with the last two teams he has been on, he will all of a sudden be ready to leave at the drop of a hat. When it is not fun for him, or the team is not great, he will bounce. He did this in Golden State.
After the Warriors won their second title I heard so many people saying that KD still felt hollow. It was almost like the titles didn't happen. Some media people were outright calling the titles phony because of how easy they were to win. The Warriors were loaded and could not be beat. They had Steph, Draymond, a healthy Klay and KD. That is a nearly impossible team to beat. After leaving the Warriors he had his pick of teams and he chose the Nets. He wanted to play with Kyrie, they wanted Nash to be their coach, they offloaded young talent to bring in old vets that were friends of KD and Kyrie. The Nets did everything he asked of them because they wanted to make a splash. They knew he was going to miss a full year, and they still gave him a max deal. But Kyrie wouldn't get vaxxed, Harden was trying to do too much and eventually demanded a trade and the Nets couldn't tread water with the upper tier of the East. I thought they'd give Boston a run in round one of the playoffs. The Nets were swept.
And now we have all this offseason drama. First it was Kyrie, then KD, now he wants Marks and Nash gone, when is enough enough? And what team will he be truly happy to be traded to? At first it was all Phoenix. The first demand of a trade was all about the Suns. Well, they gave Deandre Ayton a max, he cannot be traded until January and the Suns seem set with their core. They look to be running it back. I saw the Heat were a preferred team, but only if they kept Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry and Bam Adebayo. That is not realistic in any trade for KD. One or more of those guys are going to have to go if they trade for KD. Today I saw his new preferred team was the Celtics. The Nets already turned down an offer from them for Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and a ton of picks. The Nets want Brown and Tatum. There is no way the Celtics are doing that. So when the Celtics turn down the Nets next return offer, I wonder who KD will say is his preferred team then. It just seems like he wants to be anywhere but Brooklyn, or maybe he wants to be on a contender, but trading for him is going to dampen a ton of teams' title aspirations.
All this is why I think Durant ends up staying in Brooklyn. The return haul is too much. The asking price is too steep. He is too old and too often injured now. He has proven to all of the sudden become discontent without any warning. There are too many cons when you make a pros and cons list. It is looking more and more likely that he will end up being unhappy playing for a mediocre at best team for the next three or four years. I just don't think a trade is coming.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.