Kevin Durant wants to be traded.
That doesn’t mean he will be.
The biggest shoe has dropped in all the chaos surrounding the Brooklyn Nets, with Durant reportedly asking out. There have been a slew of rumored destinations – from the Heat to the Raptors – and the Nets have seemed open to dealing him if a team reaches their understandably massive asking price.
But such trades are complicated transactions, and the Nets would be silly to move Durant for less than market value, especially since he has so much term left on his contract. Appearing Tuesday on the “Pat McAfee Show”, The Athletic’s Shams Charania offered some insight into the current state of the Durant-Nets uncertainty.
"From everything I’m told, that (trade request) has not changed, there’s been no signal that he’s going to back off of that, if anything that stance is expected to continue throughout this offseason,” Charania said. “On the other hand, the Nets, they pick up T.J. Warren today, they’re making moves and they’re doing things this offseason with in their mind the preparation and operation as if they’re bringing these two guys back next season and playing with these two guys.
“Now, I think they’re open in dialog and open to teams like Toronto, Phoenix, Miami, making offers. But until they get that price threshold met – which I’m told is All-Star-type players, a boatload of draft picks – they’re not going to, this is what they’re telling teams, they’re not going to move Kevin Durant until that price is met. … This process with Kevin Durant could take a while, but there’s no doubt he wants a trade out of Brooklyn.”
There’s a huge market for Durant, but only a small handful of teams reasonably could put together a package that would get the Nets to even think about trading him.
Durant has basically no leverage because of his contract situation, but for whatever control he does have, his eyes apparently are on the desert.
“Every team in the league has reached out,” Charania said. “The Warriors, the Heat, the Suns. Every team that you can think of, we’re talking about Kevin Durant here, every team has reached out. But which team can put together a package to go get Kevin Durant? That’s the question.
“The Phoenix Suns, from everything I’ve been told are his No. 1 destination. There’s a desire to go play with Devin Booker, go play with Chris Paul. But overall, where do I think he ends up? At the end of the day, it’s gonna be about whoever puts in the best package. Now, if that’s Phoenix, they’ve got Deandre Ayton, they’ve got Mikal Bridges, they’ve got all their first-round draft picks.
“What I’m told is there isn’t really a 1-to-1 interest with the Nets and the Suns on Deandre Ayton. So, when you’re thinking about trades, Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges and draft picks, I don’t think that’s a deal construct we’re going to see. Can Phoenix go and take Deandre Ayton and take these other players on their roster – Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder – can they go trade them to other teams and go get another type of elite player that they could then use with a Mikal Bridges to ship to Brooklyn?
“This is why this is not a process that will play out this week, it will take multiple weeks to see if Phoenix, if they really want to get this deal done, to put together a package to acquiesce Brooklyn.”
So, this is going to be a long process, and it ultimately might end with Durant still in Brooklyn.
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