Just days after Kyrie Irving signed on to play for the Nets next year, Durant would shock the NBA world by requesting a trade. That was at the end of June, and now we’re at the end of July and he is still on the team.
He has four years left on his deal and appears to still be in the prime of his career, so the Nets have a high asking price for him.
However, an entirely new conspiracy has emerged in reference to Durant’s Brooklyn Nets trade request, per realGM. Dave McMenamin of ESPN shared a wild theory about Durant’s real motive when he demanded a trade.
“There is a school of thought speaking to people around the league that they think the Kevin Durant trade request wasn’t actually about him getting out of Brooklyn,” McMenamin said. “It was about getting Kyrie Irving out of Brooklyn.”
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are superstars, but could not get it done last year, mostly in part because of drama surrounding Irving not being able to play due to Brooklyn’s vaccine mandate. This forced the Nets to lean on their depth and ultimately trade James Harden after they had just got him from the Houston Rockets.
The Nets ultimately dealt Harden to the 76ers for a Ben Simmons-led trade package. However, Simmons ended up not playing a single game in 2021-2022.
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Durant listed the Heat and Suns as his preferred destinations, but it’s looking increasingly unlikely that he’ll be able to go to either of those teams.
The Nets aren’t just going to trade a superstar of Durant’s caliber to just get rid of him, so their best bet at this point might be simply hanging onto him.
