Nets All-Star Kevin Durant did not travel with Brooklyn for the club’s three-game road trip, according to Malika Andrews of ESPN. Head coach Steve Nash shed some light on the team’s decision to keep Durant home. The two-time Finals MVP has been unavailable for the club since February 12 with a left hamstring strain.
“We just felt like it didn’t benefit him to travel across the country while he is trying to get that critical last part of his rehab done,” Nash said of the Nets’ star forward. “If this was the playoffs, there’s a chance he’d be back very soon, but there’s no point in taking a big risk with him when the most important thing is to get him back for the remainder of the season.”
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- Knicks associate head coach Johnnie Bryant, a former Utes player and Jazz assistant coach, is still in the hunt to become the new University of Utah head coach, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.
- The Raptors made some significant changes at the trade deadline, but they didn’t move the player everyone was perhaps most expecting to be dealt. Blake Murphy of The Athletic takes stock of where Toronto stands in terms of its draft assets and salary cap space going forward.
- The Sixers opted not to trade for point guard Kyle Lowry, an unrestricted free agent this summer, apparently due to an ample asking price from the Raptors, as Rich Hoffman and Derek Bodner of The Athletic detail. The Raptors reportedly wanted a package centered around young players Matisse Thybulle and Tyrese Maxey, two future first-round draft picks, with veterans Danny Green and Mike Scott added to match Lowry’s incoming salary in a move.
Aim high kid. Raptors were high when they thought that was a legit convo.
Good luck in the playoffs! Lol
Thanks! Sixers retained their impressive depth. You can’t win a championship with 5 players.
The Warriors of the KD era are holding on line 2 for you. They say they did it with 4…
You must be a casual. Trading all your wing defenders isn’t a smart plan. Lowry isn’t d-ing up anyone other than another PG.
Are you saying Lowry doesn’t defend anyone other than point guards well?
@philly
That is categorically false. Lowry guards everyone well. Including centers (even at his small size) and is leading or top 3-5 in charges year in and year out
He would have lead you to a championship. It’s a shame he couldn’t win one for his hometown
Lowry guards everyone well? What a crock of she-it.
That’s sky high for 2 months of Lowry.
Yeah, so now they get nothing when he leaves as a free agent? Why would they ask for so much when the alternative is nothing?
Because giving a player you covet away just to give him away sets a bad precedent for negotiations of the future. You don’t be a pushover.
Who is to say what they were really offered, but they may plan to spend the money to retain him. If all they were offered was filler and a second rounder or two, it may not be worth the hit to culture and self respect to give him away for picks that really aren’t important to them.
They may plan to keep him around as team ambassador for decades to come. Are they going to toss him for whatever they could get and let that memory endure? They were going to get a home run offer or live with what comes.
Raps clearly didnt want to trade him that bad
Raps have already traded Norman Powell. They only needed to trade one guard. Keeping Lowry keeps them more in sync for the playoffs and he is not declining very fast.
Now, could they have gotten more for Powell? Seems like it but they sent him to a team that did not really need a guard, so Powell will not make the Raps look bad, and they recovered the shooting in Trent.
Not sure what salary Lowry is actually worth, but I said 2/$40. TOR could re-sign. They’re only in the $90s for next year with the rest of the core signed already.
Lowry wanted a handshake deal of 2/50 with whichever team was trading for him. (He can’t sign till the off-season)
My guess is raptors give him that at least, or sign/trade him for a decent return in the off-season
That’s it. It’s a pretty clear sign and trade opportunity for them. I think they can offer him more than anyone else?
I don’t think they will lose much from holding onto him now if they sign and trade this off season. Or even keep him and see how the draft plays out. A legit C in the draft with Lowry, FVV, Siakim, OG and Trent doesn’t look to bad.
Raps should have traded for Bamba or Vucevic. Trent Jr is nice and younger and will command less than Powell, but still is only a younger version of Powell…
Raptors now you’ll end up with nothing. Greedy. Now you lose.
Plus Hill for the Sixers might do as good of a job