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Getty Jaylen Brown Guarding Kevin Durant, Boston Celtics
At 2:31 a.m. Eastern Standard Time Monday morning, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted a shocking report that the Boston Celtics were appearing as worshipers in Kevin Durant’s trade talks with the Brooklyn Nets. The tweet read, “ESPN sources: As Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant’s trade inquiry nears its fourth week, the Boston Celtics have emerged among teams engaged in talks of a potential deal.”
Not only did Wojnarowski report that the Celtics have the best chance of landing Durant because they would include an All-Star in Jaylen Brown in the deal, but he also ended any rumors that they were dealing Tatum.
The next report came from The Athletic’s Shams Charania, who shared what the deal offered by the Celtics was. “The Celtics offered the Nets Brown, guard Derrick White and a draft pick for Durant, sources said. The proposal was rejected,” Charania said.
He also shared what the Nets would be looking for in a deal with the Cs.
“Brooklyn has asked Boston — in each proposal — to include Brown, Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, draft picks and possibly another rotation player, these sources added.”
However, while Wojnarowski shared the report Monday, it may not be very timely events in the NBA trade talk.
Windhorst: These are not Fresh Talks
Following the July 25 reports, Brian Windhorst announced that the Celtics’ involvement in Brooklyn trade talks was a week old.
“I know it came out today, so it’s on my mind, but as far as I know these aren’t new conversations,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta on Monday.
So if the Nets aren’t in active negotiations with the Celtics, who are they talking to? Windhorst went on to explore what the current sentiment regarding Durant trades might be.
“Right now, the Nets’ stance is, if they don’t get their prize, they’re going to weather the storm,” Windhorst said. “They could start the season with Durant, or that could be a negotiating position.”
Bleacher Reports Jake Fischer shared similar reports on the July 26 episode of “Please Don’t Aggregate This” that the Nets and Celtics bid stemmed from discussions in Las Vegas at the NBA Summer League.
Celtics and Nets Talks dates back to the Summer League
Fischer spoke with Celtics writer Jared Weiss on his July 26 podcast episode about the Celtics’ connection with Brooklyn in bids for Kevin Durant and Brown’s inclusion in the deal. Fischer also shared that the offers he heard about were weeks old.
“I’ll start by saying I heard about Boston checking in with Brooklyn sometime during the summer league,” Fischer said. “And I looked at it after the first person told me, and in a confidential situation I was told, ‘Yes, there was a conversation, but writing about it now would make it a little bit bigger than it actually was.”
So far, Fischer has only heard of one conversation that went down with the Nets and the Celtics regarding trade proposals, and he hasn’t written about it. Checking things out after the Wojnarowski report and continuing with the podcast, he said:
“I don’t know what has happened since then, but nothing has happened between Boston and Brooklyn in the last week or so. I’ve spoken to people on both sides and other people in the situation who would know I’ve heard over and over again that these conversations are weeks old.”
While a bid appears to have taken place between the Nets and Celtics for Durant, nothing appears to be happening at the moment. Why Wojnarowski shared the news as if it were new and active but several other credible insiders are reporting it’s a week old is certainly puzzling, but all signs point to the Nets continuing to gear up for a Durant return in Prepare Brooklyn.
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