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Getty Kevin Durant #7 der Brooklyn Nets
After Kevin Durant first requested his trade with the Brooklyn Nets on June 30, he shared a list of the two teams he would most like to play for. The Miami Heat was one of two franchises named by Durant. Since then, Brooklyn and Miami have not been able to push trade talks too much. The two teams met for a Summer League meeting in Las Vegas, but otherwise talks went quiet.
On Aug. 1, we shared the report of a rival NBA executive who stated that the Nets have the Heat where they want it in trade negotiations.
“The Nets got them to where they wanted them to be, which is, ‘OK, do we include Bam (Adebayo) in one of these packages?’ The young players, Tyler Herro, the picks that they have, that’s not going to get Durant. Adebayo will. When the Jaylen Brown stuff came out, it was aimed at a team like Miami, to let them know they need to add Bam and let Phoenix know they need to add (Devin) Booker. If the package includes Bam and some of her bank pieces and three picks, the Nets might not fare any better,” the Eastern Conference board said.
Some have speculated that a deal could materialize if the Heat include Adebayo in their Brooklyn bids. In a recent episode of the NBA show The Ringer. NBA insider Logan Murdock speculated that the Heat aren’t quite there yet in Durant discussions.
Heat isn’t far off in Durant trade negotiations
On the July 28 episode of the show, Murdock and co-host Rob Mahoney predicted their top four teams for next season, and while the Heat looked outside at the top four, they realized that the Durant acquisition could change that.
Mahoney mentioned that he thought the Heat was just a throw-in from Durant’s teams he wanted to land on and that he really hoped to end up with the Phoenix Suns, but Murdock disagreed. Murdock, who spent time with KD for an article he wrote last March, shared his take on what he knows about Durant.
“I do not think so [the Heat] are as far away as you think,” Murdock said. “KD has always kept an eye on Miami, like giving them a meetup in 2016. He has always respected this organization and their approach.”
With Durant’s respect for the organization, Murdock went on to say Miami was a serious choice for Durant.
Murdock believes Durant was “serious” about the heat
“I think when he said the Miami Heat was one of his decisions… I think he meant it. I think this is a team that he really likes and an organization that he respects,” Murdock continued.
Murdock went on to explain why he believes a deal hasn’t been struck for Durant, and that’s because he’s difficult to trade with. The Nets are looking for a historic haul for the 12-time All-Star and that’s keeping negotiations from being finalized.
Durant and Nets expected to meet
The nets retain control of every Durant trade. Durant is expected to meet with team owner Joe Tsai later in the week, according to Heavy’s Steve Bulpett.
“What I’m hearing is that KD will be meeting with the owner this week,” a source told Heavy Sports. “He’ll go straight to the owner, Joe Tsai, sometime this week. We’ll see how that works.”
After the meeting, there will be a much better gauge of Durant and Brooklyn’s future. The meeting could crush Durant rumors or just start them on fire.
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