Wanting to leave the Nets, Kevin Durant will not necessarily be able to land where he wants, namely Phoenix or Miami. Already, because New York leaders will want to get the best possible consideration for letting him go. Then, because Brooklyn won’t be able to pick up any player until Ben Simmons will be on the team.
Indeed, because of its famous collective agreement, the “Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)”, the NBA is full of rules of all kinds. One of them also indicates that a team cannot have, via a transfer, that of a single player with a contract of the type ” designated rookie-player in its workforce. On the other hand, a team can count in its workforce two players with a contract of the type ” designated rookie-player if she drafted them.
The problem is that Ben Simmons already occupies this place with the Nets, since he was recovered from the Sixers via an exchange and that it was extended by Philadelphia for 177 million dollars over five years, in 2019. Inevitably, this complicates the room for maneuver of the New York franchise, because it will not be able to get its hands on certain young players promising, if the Australian were to stay in Brooklyn as expected.
Currently, there are 15 players who will not be able to join the Nets with Ben Simmons in the New York squad. These 14 players are: Bam Adebayo (Heat), Devin Booker (Suns), Luka Doncic (Mavericks), Joel Embiid (Sixers), Darius Garland (Cavaliers), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder), Donovan Mitchell (Jazz), Ja Morant (Grizzlies), Jamal Murray (Nuggets), Michael Porter Jr. (Nuggets), Jayson Tatum (Celtics), Karl-Anthony Towns (Wolves), Andrew Wiggins (Warriors), Zion Williamson (Pelicans) and Trae Young (Hawks) .
Suffice to say that the list of teams likely to welcome Kevin Durant is not as wide as it seems. Unless Ben Simmons is also transferred by the New York leaders (but the rumors rather say the opposite) or that we are witnessing an exchange with several franchises…
Designated rookie-player : To help franchises retain their best players, the NBA has created this special “designated player” clause. The limit is two per team, or only one in the event of a transfer, and this type of contract allows a player to be extended for five years, one year from the end of his rookie contract, instead of the usual limit of four. year.
