While the Phoenix Suns remain the favorites to land Kevin Durant, one possible sleeper team could be emerging. The Brooklyn Nets.
Rumors around Durant to the Suns, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors and even the Golden State Warriors continue to spiral, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski believes remaining with the Nets is “absolutely” a possibility for the superstar forward.
“Absolutely,” Wojnarowski said on ESPN’s NBA Today when asked if there is a possible path that sees Durant return to Brooklyn. “Especially if this drags out and there’s not a deal found in the next month and goes into August and you get closer to training camp. Brooklyn, they don’t have to take a deal that they don’t want to do. They don’t have to talk themselves into a deal.
"Maybe at some point the Nets come to Kevin Durant with a trade. … And he looks at it and says 'maybe i'd … rather stay here.'”
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— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 6, 2022
“At the same time, as Kevin Durant looks at the situation, could he look at it differently over time? That’s certainly a possibility.”
Durant is under contract for four years which gives Brooklyn leverage over his trade request and because of that, they’re able to demand blue-chip players and premium draft picks in return for the 34-year-old superstar.
The Utah Jazz just received four first-round draft picks and three players in exchange for Rudy Gobert. Using that as a baseline, what team has enough assets to acquire Durant while keeping an immediate championship roster around him?
And while suitors have lined up for Durant with trade interest, the market for Kyrie Irving has been rather dry. At some point, Durant might have to look at any potential trade scenario and wonder if staying in Brooklyn with Irving would be his best chance at winning another championship, rather than joining a franchise that just exhausted their team of assets to acquire him.
[ESPN]
