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Latest On Kevin Durant

July 30th, 2022 at 9:36pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Durant‘s trade request could push owners to seek new language in the collective bargaining agreement that protects teams with unhappy stars, even if that leads to a lockout, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The NBA is coming off a record-breaking season with $10 billion in revenue for the first time in its history, and neither side wants to see that interrupted. However, owners are determined to do something to stop the trend of players demanding to be traded with multiple years left on their contracts.

The current CBA runs through the end of the 2023/24 season, but either the owners or players can opt out by December 15 of this year. If that happens, negotiations would have to begin on a new deal.

Commissioner Adam Silver said Durant’s trade request wasn’t discussed during this month’s Board of Governors meeting, but Lewis expects it to become a very significant topic for the league. Silver recently commented on the Durant situation, saying contracts should be a “two-way street” and players need to “meet their end of the bargain.”

There’s more Durant news to pass along:

The market for Durant seems to be contracting and the Nets are in no hurry to get the situation resolved, observes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Phoenix appears out of the running after matching an offer sheet for Deandre Ayton, and Toronto remains unwilling to part with Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes. The Heat don’t have the assets to help Brooklyn remain competitive and may have shifted their attention to a potential Donovan Mitchell deal. Washburn adds that unless Durant decides to hold out, the Nets’ best strategy is to let the situation simmer until camps open.
Sources around the league tell Zach Lowe of ESPN that it’s virtually “impossible” to trade Durant because of the difficulty in establishing a fair value. A player of Durant’s caliber with four years left on his contract has never been on the trade market before. Lowe also hears from sources that Brooklyn hasn’t given up hope that Durant will realize this and retract his trade demand. Lowe recommends that the Celtics shouldn’t get too aggressive with trade offers unless they believe Jaylen Brown will leave as a free agent in two years.
Tim Bontemps and Bobby Marks of ESPN examine why things became stagnant so quickly after Durant asked to be traded. Marks says the Nets are in a difficult position because they owe so many future draft picks to Houston, teams are generally satisfied with their rosters and aren’t looking for a major deal at this point of the summer, and Brooklyn’s front office is trying to make a “perfect” trade with an asking price that no one can meet.

International Notes: Irving, Adams, Bey, Dominican National Team

July 30th, 2022 at 6:48pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nets guard Kyrie Irving is already thinking about his career beyond the NBA. In response to a fan’s tweet about “gassing up” for the regular season, Irving speculated about his future several years down the road, saying he eventually expects to play overseas.

“I don’t ever have to Gas myself up,” Irving wrote (Twitter link). “I am going on my 12th year in the best league in the world and I am only getting better. When I am 38 years old and have time to reflect on my career truly, I will do so, but until then, I am enjoying every moment.”

“And no I won’t be done playing basketball at 38 years old lol,” he added (Twitter link). “I’ll be in leagues all over the world playing and teaching the youth all that was taught to me.”

Irving just turned 30 in March, so the future he’s talking about is several years away. He’s under contract to Brooklyn for one more season after picking up his $36.9MM option last month.

Here are some more notes related to international basketball:

Jaylen Adams, the Most Valuable Player in Australia’s NBL last season, has signed with KK Crvena Zvezda in Serbia, according to Hoops Rumors’ JD Shaw (Twitter link). Adams, who appeared in seven games with the Bucks during the 2020/21 season, attended a mini-camp with the Lakers last month.
Former NBA small forward Tyler Bey is receiving interest from Ironi Ness Ziona in Israel, tweets Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Bey held a two-way contract with the Rockets in training camp last year, but he was waived before the start of the season and wound up playing for Houston’s G League affiliate. A former star at Colorado, Bey played 18 games with the Mavericks in 2020/21.
Al Horford, Karl-Anthony Towns and Chris Duarte are the most prominent names on the Dominican Republic’s preliminary 25-man World Cup roster, according to Cancha Latina. The team has qualifying games next month against Panama and Venezuela. Horford has been a member of the national team since 2008, and Towns has represented the country since 2012.

Trade Rumors: Mitchell, Barrett, Collins, Heat, Stalled Market

July 29th, 2022 at 6:32pm CST by Rory Maher

Appearing on The Rally (video link), Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that trade talks between the Jazz and Knicks centered on Donovan Mitchell have “stalled out” and the two teams haven’t had contact for about two weeks.

According to Charania, Utah is continuing to discuss moving Mitchell, just not with New York. The Jazz have engaged with the Hornets and Wizards recently, Charania adds, but it doesn’t sound like a potential deal is imminent with either of those clubs.

As Charania observes, many around the league still peg the Knicks as the favorites to land the three-time All-Star guard due to their combination of draft capital and young players. However, with the caveat that things can change at any time, it appears as though nothing is happening on that front right now.

Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA:

On his Please Don’t Aggregate This podcast (hat tip to HoopsHype), Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report said he continues to hear that the Jazz don’t have much interest in trading for — and paying — Knicks wing RJ Barrett as part of a Mitchell package. Barrett is eligible for a rookie scale extension up until the start of the 2022/23 regular season, and if he’s unable to come to terms on an extension, he’d be a restricted free agent in 2023.
Ian Begley of SNY.tv pushes back on the notion that the Jazz aren’t interested in Barrett, noting his report earlier this month that Utah actually initiated talks with New York with Barrett as part of the return package. Sources tell Begley the Jazz were trying to project what Barrett’s extension value might be at the time of those early discussions, which is only natural. It’s worth pointing out that these two reports aren’t mutually exclusive — the Jazz may indeed have interest in Barrett, but perhaps got a sense of what he’s looking for in an extension and then decided they didn’t want to pay him a large contract in the future. For what it’s worth, Begley says he would refuse to put Barrett in a possible Mitchell deal if he were the Knicks, as he believes that he’s worth more than extra first-round picks.
On the latest Lowe Post podcast, ESPN’s Zach Lowe said he doesn’t believe the Heat ever seriously pursued Hawks big man John Collins, but wonders if they might revisit that possibility before the season starts. “There has been some Miami, John Collins chatter,” Lowe said, per RealGM. “It’s old. It might be months old. I don’t think it was ever really serious at all. They might revisit that.”
Fred Katz of The Athletic suggests that the return the Jazz received from the Timberwolves for Rudy Gobert may have stalled the trade market for stars like Mitchell and Kevin Durant. According to Katz, the Jazz are seeking a bigger package for Mitchell than they received for Gobert, and the Nets are certainly looking for a massive haul for Durant. That might be having a trickle-down effect not only on the teams that are interested in the two stars, but other teams who could be looking to make lesser deals, Katz writes.

Lakers Notes: LeBron, First-Round Picks, Westbrook

July 29th, 2022 at 3:02pm CST by Luke Adams

LeBron James will become eligible next Thursday to sign a contract extension with the Lakers that could be worth up to a projected $97.1MM over two years, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack article. If James doesn’t agree to an extension with Los Angeles, he would remain on track to reach free agency in 2023.

According to Stein, sources briefed on the matter say that James is happy in L.A. and suggest that his family has become “increasingly entrenched” in Southern California in recent years. Stein adds that the belief in league circles is that LeBron is unlikely to seriously consider leaving the Lakers unless he has the opportunity to play with his son Bronny James elsewhere beginning in 2024.

Once James becomes extension-eligible next week, he and the Lakers won’t be facing any sort of deadline in the near future — he’d remain extension-eligible all the way up until June 30, 2023, and could agree to a new one- or two-year contract at any time before then to avoid free agency. So if the two sides don’t strike a deal immediately, it shouldn’t necessarily be a cause for concern.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

Within the same Substack story, Stein writes that seemingly no potential trade partners want to make a deal with the Lakers unless they can get both of L.A.’s tradable first-round picks (2027 and 2029). Based on reporting to date, Stein’s claim presumably applies to at least the Nets with Kyrie Irving and the Pacers with Buddy Hield and Myles Turner. According to Stein, the Lakers have thus far only shown a willingness to move one of those two first-rounders in any deal — and they’ll likely look to add at least some protections to any pick they move.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report spoke to a handful of league insiders about what the Lakers should do with Russell Westbrook and received a wide range of opinions. Those sources were split on how aggressive the team should be in trying to make a preseason trade and how many picks they’d attach to Westbrook. As Pincus writes, some of his sources think L.A. should let Westbrook stay away from the team if he’s still a Laker this fall, while others believe he can still salvage some on-court value for his current club.
In case you missed it, there are five Lakers players who can’t be traded until at least December 15. We shared that full list earlier today.

Atlantic Notes: Tatum, Durant, Knicks, Raptors

July 28th, 2022 at 10:47pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Various members of the NBA world have been weighing in since word spread earlier this week that the Celtics and Nets have been in conversation about a potential trade centered around current Brooklyn All-Star forward Kevin Durant and current Boston star wing Jaylen Brown.

Brown’s All-Star running mate in Boston, Jayson Tatum, shared his two cents on the matter earlier this week, per Nick Friedell of ESPN.

“I played with [Durant] during the Olympics,” Tatum said on Tuesday, attending the premiere of the new Showtime documentary ‘Point Gods.’ Durant, as an executive producer, was also in attendance, but did not discuss his future with assembled media.

“Obviously, he’s a great player, but that’s not my decision,” Tatum continued. “We got two new pieces [in Malcolm Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari]… I love our team. I just go out there and play with my teammates. I don’t put that [general manager] hat on to make decisions.”

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

The aforementioned notion of the Nets and Celtics swapping Durant, Brown, and additional assets was explored by Jared Weiss, Jay King, and Alex Schiffer of The Athletic in a new roundtable.
The other big lingering line item that persists at this point in the 2022 NBA offseason is the fate of Jazz All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell. The 6’1″ swingman has long been floated as a possible fit for the Knicks, a star-hungry big market club with the contracts, future draft equity, and intriguing young talent to potentially swing a deal that the Utah front office may value. The Athletic’s Fred Katz and Mike Vorkunov experiment with a fascinating exercise by opting to stage a mock draft of New York’s most valuable trade chips, starting with RJ Barrett and the Knicks’ 2029 first-round pick.
The Knicks are not the only game in town when it comes to possibly acquiring Mitchell from Utah. Raptors team president Masai Ujiri and his Jazz front office counterpart Danny Ainge may appear at first blush to be particularly abrasive trade partners, doomed to haggle over picks and protections, opines Eric Koreen of The Athletic. However, Koreen notes that, because of the depth of Toronto’s young talent, the teams could wind up being particularly good fits for each other in a Mitchell transaction, provided Ujiri and Ainge can agree on the granular details of such an exchange.

Trade Rumors: Brown, Durant, Smart, G. Williams, Irving

July 27th, 2022 at 9:56pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics‘ Jaylen Brown is the best individual talent the Nets could hope to get in a Kevin Durant trade, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype says in a discussion with Jared Weiss of The Athletic. News that Boston made an offer to Brooklyn that included Brown, Derrick White and a draft pick shook up the rumor mill on Monday, about a month after Durant made his trade request.

Brown is a potential All-Star over the next few seasons, Scotto adds, and could become a cornerstone for the Nets long after Durant has retired. White, meanwhile, is easier to part with after the Celtics acquired Malcolm Brogdon from the Pacers.

Scotto also notes that there’s an element of risk with Durant, who will turn 34 in September and has been through two significant injuries. He adds that some teams are starting to question the value of paying exorbitant salaries to stars in their 30s, and the four years remaining on Durant’s contract might not be universally seen as something positive.

Scotto and Weiss address trade rumors involving a few more players:

Replacing White with Marcus Smart might make the Nets more willing to take the Celtics’ offer, even if it means getting fewer draft picks. Sources tell Scotto that Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks has been an admirer of Smart for years and would love the chance to add him to Brooklyn’s roster. Weiss questions whether the Celtics can afford to give up the fiery guard, who represents a large part of the team’s defensive identity, and said he’s probably worth more to Boston than he would be to just about anyone else.
The Celtics are interested in an extension for Grant Williams, but they may hold off to see if he’s needed in a Durant deal, according to Weiss. Another factor, Weiss adds, is how high Boston is willing to go on a raise for Williams considering the expected rise in the salary cap.
Scotto is among the observers who believe the Nets would prefer to hold onto Durant and Kyrie Irving and see how the season plays out, which is part of the reason they’re keeping the price for Durant so high. With a healthy Ben Simmons and Joe Harris, plus a full season of Seth Curry and the addition of T.J. Warren, the Nets might be in a position to contend as long as Durant and Irving are still around. Weiss supports Brooklyn trading Irving for Russell Westbrook, but only if the Lakers include two first-round picks in the deal.

Lakers Notes: Anthony, Reaves, Bryant, Westbrook, Handy

July 27th, 2022 at 7:44pm CST by Arthur Hill

Carmelo Anthony may return to the Lakers for another season, but a decision isn’t expected quickly, according to Sean Deveney of Heavy. Like many NBA veterans, Anthony’s status is on hold while teams wait to see what happens with this summer’s trade rumors.

“They have a lot to sort out obviously,” an unidentified general manager said of the Lakers. “But as more things get set, they’ll probably get back around to bringing him in. It’s just, at this point, you don’t know what might happen with (Russell) Westbrook and whether you might need to take on players, so you see that around the league a lot — teams have 10, 11, 12 players signed and there’s no hurry to fill in the last spots until you see how the other stuff plays out.”

A return to the Knicks has been mentioned as a possibility for Anthony, and Deveney sees the Nets as a potential landing spot as well. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving reportedly wanted Brooklyn to sign Anthony when they joined the team in 2019, and adding him to the roster might be a way to mollify them if they’re both still with the Nets when training camp opens. The GM also mentions the Warriors, who would give Anthony his best chance to win a ring before he retires.

There’s more on the Lakers:

Austin Reaves has a strong case for a starting spot heading into camp, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Reaves will need to improve his outside shooting, but he can serve as a secondary ball-handler and his defensive abilities make him an ideal backcourt mate for Westbrook, Buha adds. He also notes that Thomas Bryant could become a starter if L.A. is determined to play Anthony Davis at power forward rather than center.
Westbrook will face a “moment of truth” if the Lakers can’t find a way to trade him, states Dan Devine of The Ringer. If Westbrook plays another season in L.A., he’ll either have to adapt to a different role or get out of the way of his star teammates, Devine adds.
Assistant coach Phil Handy recently signed an extension with the Lakers, tweets Marc J. Spears of Andscape. Handy had been heading into the final year of his contract.

Heat Notes: Adebayo, Martin, Jovic, Herro

July 27th, 2022 at 5:28pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat‘s reluctance to part with Bam Adebayo has effectively taken them out of the Kevin Durant sweepstakes, at least for now, sources tell Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Miami could decide to revisit a potential Durant swap later on if something changes, but for now the team plans to move forward with its current roster.

According to the authors’ sources, the Nets haven’t shown much interest in the Heat’s trade offers, which haven’t included Adebayo or Jimmy Butler. That means any deal would likely have to be built around Tyler Herro and draft assets. Miami can currently offer two unprotected first-round picks and as many as three pick swaps. The team could free up another first-rounder by negotiating with the Thunder to lift lottery protections on the 2025 pick owed to OKC.

Another hurdle is that Adebayo is ineligible to be dealt to Brooklyn as long as Ben Simmons remains on the roster because of the designated rookie extension rule. Even if the Heat change their minds about moving Adebayo, a third team would have to be found to take Simmons in order for the deal to work.

There’s more from Miami:

The Heat plan to have Caleb Martin take over the role of P.J. Tucker, who signed with the Sixers in free agency, Jackson and Chiang add. Martin only played 22% of his minutes at power forward last season, but the organization is willing to see how he can handle the position before exploring a trade.
First-round pick Nikola Jovic has received an invitation to try out for the Serbian national team ahead of EuroBasket 2022, Chiang writes in a separate story. Summer League was challenging for the 19-year-old, who had up-and-down performances and dealt with a quad contusion. “I’m still learning,” he said. “I just need a little time.”
The Heat say they’re content with the current roster, but the offseason moves shouldn’t be considered complete until they reach a contract extension with Herro, says Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Herro would become almost untradeable for the rest of the season once an extension is in place due to the “poison pill provision.” That would virtually eliminate any chance for a significant trade to acquire Durant or Donovan Mitchell.

Latest On Kevin Durant

July 26th, 2022 at 5:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nets are finding it difficult to deal Kevin Durant in part because suitors are unwilling to “gut their roster” to acquire the perennial All-Star, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on SportsCenter (video link).

Those bidders want to ensure they still “have enough left” after a Durant deal to win a championship, Wojnarowski adds. However, the Nets front office isn’t in any rush to get a deal done.

“Brooklyn does want to trade Kevin Durant,” Wojnarowski said. “They’re serious about it, but they want to do it on their terms.”

We have more regarding Durant trade chatter:

Echoing Wojnarowski’s report, executives told Heavy.com’s Steve Bulpett that any team acquiring Durant has to be sure it can win the championship immediately. “KD’s going to be 34 at the start of next season, and he’s still a superstar,” one executive told Bulpett. “But depending on what you give up, if you’re a contender now, you’d have to be pretty damn sure you were going to win more in the window with KD than with the people you trade away.”
Why did reports about the Celtics’ interest in Durant surface this week? According to The Athletic’s Jared Weiss, the Nets are looking for stronger offers in order to avoid the possibility of Durant being a no-show for training camp.
In a much different take, unnamed executives suggested to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer that the Nets’ demands are so significant because they have no real desire to move Durant.
There has been no traction in talks between the Nets and Raptors in a potential Durant deal, according to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. That’s due to Toronto’s continued refusal to trade forward Scottie Barnes.

Celtics Rumors: Brown, Durant, Trade Talks

July 26th, 2022 at 2:32pm CST by Luke Adams

Celtics forward Jaylen Brown was “perplexed” by a recent report claiming he doesn’t intend to re-sign in Boston when his current contract expires in 2024, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic, who hears from sources that Brown denied that report behind closed doors.

As Weiss observes, Brown is unlikely to sign a contract extension anytime soon, but that’s because his maximum earnings in an extension would fall far short of what he could earn if he reaches free agency and signs a new deal at that time.

Brown’s name has once again popped up in trade rumors this offseason, as it did in 2018 when San Antonio was shopping Kawhi Leonard and in 2019 when New Orleans was shopping Anthony Davis. However, despite those rumors, Brown wants to remain in Boston, Weiss writes.

Here’s more on the Celtics:

Although Brown’s name came up in past trade rumors involving star players, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report says the Celtics never actually made the former No. 3 pick available when Leonard was on the block in 2018 and only internally discussed the possibility of offering Brown in 2019 after Davis requested a trade. The Celtics began to consider what they could get for Brown this January, following a 23-24 start, but didn’t seriously entertain the idea of moving him at the deadline, Fischer adds. In other words, the Kevin Durant talks represent the first time the club has seriously mulled moving Brown.
Within the same Bleacher Report story, Fischer says the Celtics’ most serious discussions with the Nets about Durant happened at the start of July, noting that those talks were considered to be part of Brooklyn’s “first stage of continuing negotiations.” Most trade negotiations around the NBA “have come to a momentary lull” since Summer League ended, according to Fischer.
Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, and Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe each broke down the rumors linking Durant to Boston, exploring whether it makes sense for the Celtics to make a strong push for the star forward and evaluating what they should be willing to give up. Washburn argues that the C’s should stand pat and hang onto Brown, while O’Connor says he’d probably be willing to give up both Brown and Marcus Smart in order to land Durant.
Washburn, like Weiss, hears that Brown is “invested” in Boston and wants to be part of the Celtics’ future.