The Brooklyn Nets received some really tough news on Thursday when they were told by superstar Kevin Durant that he wants out with an official trade request. This comes after Durant signed a 4-year deal to stay with Brooklyn so it’s a tough blow for the franchise.
With that being said, the Nets do have him under contract for the next four years, at least. While Durant wants out, Brooklyn may want to try and play nice with him in order to get at least one year out of Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons in order to compete for a championship.
Nets legend Richard Jefferson compared Durant’s trade request to Kobe Bryant’s with the Los Angeles Lakers and he believes Durant should just stay in Brooklyn as Bryant did with the Lakers:
It reminds me of when Kobe Bryant asked for a trade…they was talking about, you know, he wanted to get traded and then there was a lot of conversation about Chicago. And then they were like, ‘Well, this is our asking price for Kobe Bryant in his prime’ and Chicago, they were going to take everything that they can and Kobe was like, ‘Nah, I’m good because if I go there, there’s not going to be anything to play with’. So it is a lot trickier. Kevin Durant, he could might be better off, I’m just saying, he’d be better off staying in Brooklyn if he’s gonna go to a team with no other superstar, no potential All-Star, no other talent. I think it’s a lot more complicated than I think people understand because Kevin Durant’s not just leaving Brooklyn for a change of scenery, he’s leaving Brooklyn because he wants to go compete for a championship so you can’t take all the pieces, add Kevin Durant and be like, here you go, so it’s gonna get complicated.
Whatever the Nets decide to do, this is going to be yet another big issue that they will have to handle in the 2022-23 season. This is tough coming after a tumultuous 2021-22 season where everything that could have possibly gone wrong for the Nets did. For their sake, they need to hope Durant has a change of heart and stays for a bit.
This post originally appeared on Nets Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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