Kevin Durant has requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets. How did that come about, which teams are in the draw and what’s next for the Nets? SPOX answers the most important questions.
Why does Kevin Durant request a trade?
Kevin Durant pulled the “nuclear option” as Zach Lowe (ESPN) expressed last week: The Superstar has requested a trade for the first time in his career after leaving his previous teams (OKC Thunder and Golden State Warriors) as a free agent. This is a type of player on the market that normally never comes onto the market.
Because: Durant is not only still one of the three to five best players in the world, he also just signed a new contract last year, so he is still tied for a whopping four years and therefore has an all the higher trade value.
Durant has informed the Nets that his dream targets are the Miami Heat and Phoenix Suns – but that’s not binding on Brooklyn, though ESPN reports that the front office is working with Durant to find a solution. Ultimately, Brooklyn will make the deal that’s best for Brooklyn, more on page 2.
Did the Kyrie Irving issue lead to the Durant anger?
First of all, it must be clarified how the claim came about. Just a year ago, Durant extended his deal and didn’t even insist on a player option or anything like that, just a few weeks ago there was great disappointment after the sweep in the first round, but hardly anyone expected that after James Harden, Durant would follow could soon demand a trade.
Kyrie Irving’s personality was more questionable, and this personality may have played a role in Durant’s desire to change. Understandably, Brooklyn did not want to present Irving with a maximum five-year contract, a confusion arose that had already caused a stir last week.
Ultimately, Irving, for whom no one was willing (28 teams) or able (the Lakers) to make a real bid (the Lakers), pulled his player option for the coming year, seemingly putting the decision on hold but apparently not satisfying Durant. KD reportedly hung out with the Nets for several days before requesting a trade.
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving: A Package Deal
It is reasonable to assume that Durant took this step – ironically – out of loyalty to Irving. When the two stars came to Brooklyn together three years ago, there was a kind of tacit understanding that the franchise and all of its decisions would go through them from now on.
Brooklyn put up with some headaches, especially (though not exclusively) caused by Irving, because players of Durant’s caliber make all the difference in the NBA. Durant and Irving were a package deal, so to speak, in the beginning their influence even went so far that DeAndre Jordan was allowed to give the starting center instead of Jarrett Allen.
In the past year, however, the limit has apparently been exceeded. Irving caused a lot of trouble for Nets owner Joe Tsai with his refusal to vaccinate and was de facto suspended for a long time for away games. The Nets brought Irving back into the team, but they did not back down when it came to the demand for a new maximum contract.
Kevin Durant pulls the ripcord
From a sporting point of view, this is completely understandable, neither Irving nor Durant have been available for half of all games in the last three years, and they have only won one playoff series together. But the consequence is that soon both will probably no longer play for the Nets.
Another possible explanation would be that Durant has realized that he needs more help for another title than he can get from the Nets, which of course is not least due to the Harden fiasco, which Durant and Irving are also pushing and partly responsible for became. It would be fitting that the respective first seeds of the two conferences are on his wish list.
Maybe there’s another reason, maybe KD just wants to have a new environment after three years. Be that as it may: Now a betting begins that could change the league permanently.
