The Brooklyn Nets and Kevin Durant remain at odds, and there does not appear to be any resolution in sight. That may be by design, at least in the case of the team.
In an appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up!” on Thursday, Brian Windhorst said the Nets and Kyrie Irving appear to be on the same page, and Irving understands his best shot at the long-term contract he wants is to have a successful season with Brooklyn. As far as Durant goes, the situation is uncertain, but the organization appears to be setting a clear stance to other teams despite his trade demand.
“Right now, I think the Nets want to run this team back, and they’re hoping that Kevin Durant agrees,” Windhorst said. “The way that they’re conducting trade talks and the prices that they are asking has teams out there thinking they don’t really want to trade Kevin Durant anyway. They want to bring this team back.”
Windhorst previously characterized the state of things between Durant and the Nets as a “stalemate,” and that seems to check out here. Brooklyn has no desire or incentive to trade its star player. Durant is trying to give the Nets that incentive, possibly by causing as much disruption as possible.
The Nets’ resolve may next be tested if Durant takes one drastic step. Until then, it does not sound like a Durant trade is really on the table.
