The summer drags on with no Kevin Durant trade in sight. Some have wondered whether Durant would soften his Brooklyn Nets trade stance and perhaps be more open to a return alongside Kyrie Irving for the 2022-23 season, but Shams Charania of The Athletic says he âhas shown no change in his stance.â Because of this, the conversation at Las Vegas Summer League turned to the possibility of a holdout.
There's still two months until training camp, though, so there's a good amount of time for a deal to go down. The question is just what this deal could look like at this point. The Nets are rightfully asking for the world for one of the best players in the world who has four years remaining on his contract, and nobody has come close to their ask.
Kevin Durant reportedly listed the Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat as his preferred landing spots when he first requested a trade back on June 30, but the Suns' chances took a major hit and are likely dead for now after they had to match a Deandre Ayton offer sheet. Meanwhile, the Heat's situation is complicated because they definitely don't have enough if they don't include Bam Adebayo, but it's unclear if they're truly willing to go that far and include more. Plus, if they do include Adebayo, the Nets would need to trade Ben Simmons.
The Toronto Raptors and now the Boston Celtics are also reportedly involved with Durant, with the Raptors unwilling to include Scottie Barnes and the Celtics willing to offer Jaylen Brown. Boston entering the fold with a Brown trade offer would seemingly make them a major threat to get KD, but there's still no trade imminent.
As for a return to the Golden State Warriors, that appears to be out.
So on and on we go. Will a team actually reach the Nets' high asking price to get a deal done? Will Brooklyn hold strong and force Kevin Durant to hold out if he really wants a trade that badly? Stay tuned.
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