Jessica Alcheh-USA TODAY Sports
Kevin Durant is still a member of the Brooklyn Nets and rumors are he’s determined to get himself traded even if it means burning some serious bridges.
Kevin Durant sent the NBA offseason ablaze with his trade request on TK and after watching the possible trade partners winnow themselves down, decided to throw some gasoline on the first. Earlier this month it was reported that in a meeting with owner Joe Tsai, Durant asked for coach Steve Nash and GM Sean Marks to be fired if the Nets planned on keeping him.
And at the end of last week, NBA insider Marc Stein shared the perspective that Durant’s ultimatum to the Nets may have been more about getting himself out of Brooklyn than it was about getting rid of Marks and Nash.
What did Marc Stein say about the ulterior motives of Kevin Durant?
“There is a growing belief among rival teams that Durant knew when he issued that me-or-them ultimatum that Tsai had no intention of yielding to the request and firing Marks and Nash. One resultant theory that the Durant/Tsai meeting spawned is the idea KD has begun trying to manufacture as much behind-the-scenes discord as he can in hopes that it will lead the Nets to lower their asking price and trade him out of exasperation.”
Stein doubled down on this line of thinking four days later in his most recent newsletter.
“If Durant hasn’t been traded by [the start of training camp], there is a growing expectation in league circles that he will continue trying to cause as much of a ruckus behind the scenes to try to prod the Nets into lowering their asking price at last to facilitate a deal.”
From the most recent rumors, it sounds like the offers on the table for the Nets right now may be just Tyler Herro, filler and picks from the Miami Heat or Jaylen Brown, filler and picks from the Boston Celtics. Neither deal is anywhere close to 100 cents on the dollar for a healthy and engaged Durant and it makes sense the Nets are waiting for a better deal.
But those offers may be closer to fair value if we’re talking about a frustrated and disengaged Durant who isn’t all that interested in pushing his body for the sake of a team he doesn’t even want to be on.