Former NBA big man Kendrick Perkins has a rather interesting theory about Kevin Durant's trade request from the Brooklyn Nets after the Kyrie Irving drama.

To recall, following Irving's decision to opt-in to his contract with the Nets, Durant suddenly asked for a trade. He was reportedly “disillusioned” by Brooklyn's disastrous season and upset with their stance towards Irving, hence the trade demand.

However, Perkins doesn't think that Durant actually wants to be traded. Instead, he theorized that the superstar forward is just doing it to give Irving some leverage.

“It makes zero sense to me that he wants to be traded at this point. … I think Kevin Durant is doing this as a scare tactic in order to help Kyrie Irving have leverage,” Pekins said, via NBA on ESPN.

To be fair, after everyone thought the Nets drama was over after Kyrie Irving decided to take his option, the Kevin Durant report came in. The timing is really suspicious, so it's hard to blame Kendrick Perkins for thinking like that.

Nonetheless, if that is Durant's reasoning, he could have waited to use the scare tactic when the Nets and Irving are actually in discussions already. The two sides have until June 2023 to work out a new deal, so it is unlikely they are going to rush in such talks early on. Had KD demanded a trade at that point, Perk's theory would have been more believable.

Regardless of what's happening behind the scenes, though, the message that the Nets are sending is that Durant is available for trade. But if teams want him, they have to be ready to pay a huge price.