KD stuck in Brooklyn? Now why is that?
A fresh batch of around-the-league notes leads off with the Nets' unexpected struggles to generate the sort of robust trade market for Kevin Durant that was widely anticipated
Kevin Durant has won four NBA scoring titles. He has twice been named NBA Finals MVP. Over the past two seasons, Durant has emphatically hushed the notion that an Achilles tear spells career doom for a basketball player, quickly reestablishing himself as an offensive supernova who inspires the sort of dread in opposing defenses that maybe only Stephen Curry and Luka Dončić can exceed as an individual force.
While Durant indeed turns 34 during the first week of training camp, he's under contract for the next four seasons. A player this accomplished, under team control contractually for so long, rarely becomes available via trade.
And yet the Brooklyn Nets spent half of the just-completed Las Vegas Summer League signaling to rival teams that they are prepared to keep Durant on the roster for the start of next season in spite of his recent trade request because they don't like the offers coming in for him. If a trade does materialize for Durant this offseason, according to one source with knowledge of Brooklyn’s thinking, we should expect it to move “slow.”
Now why is that?
Why are the Nets having so much trouble generating the so-called historic haul they were expecting when it emerged just hours before the start of NBA free agency on June 30 that Durant wanted out of Brooklyn?
Some of it can be attributed to the fact that Durant's most desired destinations — Phoenix and Miami — are contending teams less than flush with the sort of trade assets that the Nets covet. The persistent scuttle around the league, though, is that clubs interested in Durant mostly fear their ability to keep him content more than they feel any concern about his advancing age.
"If the Nets can't keep him happy, after everything they've given him, how are we supposed to?" one Western Conference team official told me.
You only have to rewind to late April to recall hearing Kyrie Irving, soon after the Nets were swept by Boston in the first round of the playoffs, openly talking about how he envisioned returning in tandem with Durant next season in Brooklyn and "managing this franchise together alongside Joe and Sean."
Joe Tsai is the Nets' owner. Sean Marks is the Nets' general manager. Brooklyn signed Irving and Durant as a package deal in July 2019 and Irving’s quote reflects the level of power and influence that the stars were granted by Tsai and Marks, resulting in the signing of DeAndre Jordan to a four-year, $40 million deal entering the 2019-20 season and the eventual hiring of Durant's close confidante Steve Nash as the Nets' new coach leading into 2020-21.
There are teams out there like Toronto and New Orleans that do possess the trade assets to immediately meet Brooklyn's demands for Durant, which starts with a deal centered around a franchise player at the level of the Raptors' reigning Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes or Pelicans All-Star swingman Brandon Ingram. Yet you’ve surely noticed that the Raptors and Pelicans have not rushed in to make an offer.
The perpetually title-or-bust Heat, not surprisingly, are all-in on scouring the league to try to manufacture extra first-round picks to boost their chances of completing a trade for Durant or Utah's Donovan Mitchell. But more teams than not are asking themselves this question: If we trade for Durant, how long before he wants to go somewhere else?
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Dot Dot Dot (🏀🏀🏀)
🏀 We've been writing on this Substack for months that the Lakers do not want to attach future first-round picks to a Russell Westbrook trade just to facilitate Westbrook's departure ... but also that the Lakers are wary of taking back long-term salary that hampers future flexibility. Yet one league source advised me in Las Vegas to keep an eye on the Knicks and Lakers discussing a potential Westbrook deal if — IF — Leon Rose can successfully bring Donovan Mitchell to Madison Square Garden. The source's thinking: After adding Mitchell, New York would be expected to explore scenarios to trade away Julius Randle. And Randle, just one season removed from his breakthrough to All-Star and All-NBA status, is presumably the sort of player that the Lakers would have to consider taking on if — IF — they are unable to use Westbrook's $47.1 million expiring contract in a trade for Kyrie Irving. Randle, 27, is entering Year 1 of a four-year deal with the Knicks worth $117 million ($106 million guaranteed) and, of course, played his first four NBA seasons with the Lakers.
🏀 The Lakers' preferred scenario, to be clear, is still trading for Irving, but the Nets A) appear focused on nailing down a Durant trade before pressing for Irving's exit and B) have expressed great reluctance regarding any trade with the Lakers that doesn't involve a third team willing to take on Westbrook's contract (which Brooklyn does not want). As my Bleacher Report colleague Jake Fischer reported recently on his "Please Don't Aggregate This" live audio show, Utah is another team regarded by some league executives as a potential Westbrook trade partner if — IF — Utah successfully completes a Mitchell trade.
🏀 Reminder: As Wasserman's Thad Foucher noted in his Friday night statement to ESPN that he would no longer represent Westbrook after 14 years as his agent, any trade that trades for Westbrook "may require Russell to immediately move on from the new team via buyout." It was an unusually candid admission from the longtime representative that Westbrook is unlikely to remain with the team that acquires him … assuming the Lakers can ultimately find a trade partner. All of the teams mentioned to date as a potential Westbrook destination — be it cap-space teams like San Antonio, Indiana and Utah or New York in the theoretical Randle contract-shedding scenario discussed above — have emerged because Westbrook's expiring deal (even at a mammoth salary) can be put to good use.
🏀 I have a Spotify Live session forthcoming tonight at 7 PM ET with The Athletic's Tony Jones to discuss all the latest from the Donovan Mitchell trade front. In my most recent Spotify Live session with Brian Lewis, The New York Post’s Nets writer shared some interesting stuff on Nets sharpshooter Joe Harris ... as transcribed by my friends at HoopsHype:
🏀 Although no trade is expected Monday, Boston demands your attention until midnight ET, because the Celtics still possess a $17.1 million trade exception from last summer's Evan Fournier sign-and-trade with the Knicks that can no longer be used as of July 19. Read this piece from the tireless Keith Smith for a full breakdown of the Celtics' options with the TPE.
🏀 Nostalgia corner: My pal @JustinKubatko posted a tweet Monday noting that Shaquille O’Neal signed with the Lakers “on this day” 26 years ago. For obvious reasons, I couldn’t resist adding an image of The Los Angeles Daily News’ Sports front to go with The Los Angeles Times coverage that Kubatko included.
🏀 The July 13 deadline for the Hornets to withdraw their qualifying offer to restricted free agent Miles Bridges passed quietly with no action, meaning Bridges remains Charlotte's restricted free agent and rescinding the QO to make Bridges an unrestricted free agent would now require Bridges' consent. Arrested on June 29 and charged with felony domestic violence, Bridges has a court date in Los Angeles on Wednesday after posting a $130,000 bond.
Hey Marc, what options do the Nets (or any team) have for dealing with a Max Super Star who refuses to play. I'm assuming they don't need to pay the player, but is that actually true? ps not that KD is planning to hold out, but if he wants to be traded, then everything is possible.
First of all, RIP to my Kenrich Williams trade this off-season. 😢😖
Second, seeing the Shaq reminder, juxtaposed with this current trade stalemate with the Nets for Kyrie, really crystallizes how annoying this news cycle is for me. While I am still hopeful for a Kyrie trade before the season starts, every day that passes makes it seem less likely to me.
And worse, with each new day, our leverage is being sabotaged by the day by other parties we can’t control, such as Russ parting with his agent, Ayton signing a max deal with Indiana, and Mitchell maybe being available.
All told, it does make good business sense to wait it out. But, as an irrational fan, this is the player you don’t try to get cute with when haggling. To further underscore this point, you didn’t mind being wasteful for Russ by throwing a first round pick in there last year for no reason. So, quit trying to “win the trade with Kyrie” and just get it done.
This roller coaster ride seemingly goes up and down multiple times each day, which makes things even more aggravating.
Again, I know this is smart by the team. It just makes no sense that if they were going to be wasteful with all their other moves around the margins and beyond before this off-season, now is NOT the time to suddenly start thinking about protecting yourself for the future. Especially, because to Laker fans, this is definitely a make-or-break off-season for Pelinka and the franchise.