Kevin Durant reportedly listed Miami as one of his preferred destinations when he demanded a trade from the Nets, but the Heat didn’t make a strong effort to acquire him, Shams Charania of The Athletic said in an appearance on the Stugotz podcast.
Heat officials believed it would cost too much of their roster to trade for Durant, added Charania, who said that the last contact between the two teams regarding Durant occurred either before or during Summer League.
Charania noted that Miami reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals last season and didn’t see a need for major changes. He pointed to hypothetical trades involving Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro or Adebayo, Max Strus and another player and asked whether that really gets Miami any closer to winning a title.
On top of that, any consideration of trading Adebayo would have been limited by the designated rookie extension rule, which would have prevented the Nets from having both him and Ben Simmons on their roster at the same time. A third team would have been needed to complete a deal, which made the prospects of a trade even less realistic.
Durant also was interested in joining the Suns, but Charania hears that Brooklyn didn’t want Deandre Ayton in return. Ayton became ineligible for a sign-and-trade this summer after Phoenix matched his offer sheet from the Pacers.
Charania said there were opportunities to deal Durant, but no one was willing to meet the Nets’ asking price. The Celtics wouldn’t part with Marcus Smart or Robert Williams along with Jaylen Brown, while the Raptors weren’t willing to include Scottie Barnes in trade talks. Charania said Brooklyn could have made a deal that was heavy on draft compensation with the Suns, Grizzlies or Timberwolves before they sent their assets to Utah for Rudy Gobert, but the Nets were only interested in trades that would keep them competitive.
Yes
Trade Durant for an all star and a rising star plus value of 4 Firsts
Why?
Probability of no deal is 99%
With no deal, Nets are a clearly a better team than Title Contender Lakers
No matter how many times you post that phrase, as currently constructed the Lakers are not “Title Contenders”.
No they aren’t.
His fragile ego is probably hurt. Expect some tweets from a burner account. The Nets so called big 3 have no trade value whatsoever. Good luck Sean Marks, you should’ve kept that young core a few years ago and added one or two pieces. The owner is paying all that money to watch this drama soap unfold hahaha.
Considering trading Bam to Brooklyn was next to impossible – Brooklyn would have needed to find a taker for Simmons, which at this point would probably cost them assets – I’m not sure it would have mattered how aggressive Riley was. The Heat had no real offer to make unless they threw Jimmy in the mix.
The Ayton tidbit is interesting if not shocking.
No need
You can do 4 team deal
Ex
Bam to 4th team
Jaylen Brown to Nets
We all know that there is a slim chance to arrive at asking price
What an asinine headline – the Nets never gave any team a chance to “seriously” even think about dealing for KD, because the Nets were requesting entire starting lineups for a 35 year old coming off major leg injuries.
It is impossible to “get serious” about 1 player when his team is requesting literally ALL of your trade assets, like a bunch of morons, all so the Nets can finish 6th and exit in the first round.
You seem upset.
The nets are a top 5 team now. A serious title contender. No matter the drama, KD and kyrie are elite players, Ben Simmons, improved claxton, deep bench. Hell boris Johnson could coach this team.
Heat, Celtics, Bucks, Grizz and the Warriors are all better teams, with better chemistry. There’s zero chance Brooklyn beats any of them in a series.
New Orleans is really good, too.
I believe the Nets will make the playoffs based on their talent, but they won’t come close to a title.
Do you even watch basketball? You don’t really understand the game.
I’ve forgotten more basketball than you know friend. How long have you been on the bleach ?
The 34 year old man averaged 29 per game.
I feel sorry for the Nets fans who didn’t deserve having to go through this, and now have to witness another season of a supposed “Superteam” with a flawed roster with everything having to go perfectly for them to actually contend.
My hope is that they stay 100% healthy and lose in the Finals to GSW.
Nobody wants a player/coach/GM?
To me, this is just something the Nets are saying. The Heat made their best possible offer, as did others, early on, and there was literally no way to improve on it. No need for them to call a million times to say the same things. If Lowry, Herro, Strus, Jovic, 3 1sts and swaps werent enough, they literally couldn’t possibly offer more than that
I sure as heck didn’t want the Heat to trade all those assets for what may be one more great season from KD. We need to stay the course unless we’re able to get a superstar in his prime.
This team with Butler, Lowry, many improving young players which are led by Bam and Herro’s improvements as well, and a healthy Oladipo may get in the Finals this year. Just having Bam and Herro continue their growth and Oladipo’s health make them a good bet to win the East. If you figure continued growth from Strus, Vincent, Martin, and the ever present diamond in the rough that the Heat always seem to find, possibly a rebound season from Robinson and perhaps continued growth from someone like Yurtseven, Heat will be tough to overtake in the Eastern Conference.
Kevin Durant, Kwahi Leonard, Paul George, etc are the only types of players you make a deal like that for, and then otherwise you do what you’re talking about. That deal would have been good for the Heat, but I’m also cool with the current situation. I would feel a lot better if they added someone at the 4 though, like Millsap, James Johnson, Josh Jackson, etc.