The Brooklyn Nets are stuck in a difficult situation, as superstar and franchise cornerstone Kevin Durant has requested a trade while the current current market for Durant isn’t likely to land the Nets anything close to equal value.
With the summer league completed and team executives going back home to recharge ahead of the new season, it’s becoming more and more likely that Durant could start the season in Brooklyn, but a call from Durant to Joe Tsai to restate his request could change everything.
According to Nick Friedell, there’s still some hope within the organization of a dream scenario playing out for the 2022-23 season. That would involve shipping Kyrie Irving out of town, and getting Durant to buy into leading the franchise instead of being traded somewhere he may not want to go.
Mike Greenberg: “Is there a world in which KD is on the Nets and Kyrie is not?”
Nick Friedell: “Only Kevin knows for sure, but Greeny I can tell you having been around that Nets team, that is their dream scenario going into next year. It’s keeping Kevin and saying ‘we’re going to build around you, you are our guy, the drama will go away,’ and it’s getting Kyrie elsewhere. Whether it’s the Lakers or otherwise.
And I don’t think enough people are giving Kevin enough credit for being perceptive. He saw all that happened last year, he understood all the ramifications. And while he stood behind Kyrie at every turn publicly, I was told repeatedly the relationship is close, but it’s not always as close as it appears.”
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