Kevin Durant Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nets Owner Tsai Publicly Supports Marks, Nash

August 8th, 2022 at 7:22pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Nets owner Joe Tsai went on social media Monday night to declare his support for the team’s front office and coaching staff, apparently closing the door on the possibility of Kevin Durant wearing a Brooklyn uniform again.

On his Twitter account, Tsai stated “Our front office and coaching staff have my support. We will make decisions in the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets.”

Tsai met with the disgruntled superstar forward in London on Saturday. Earlier on Monday, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that Durant reiterated his trade request at that meeting, declaring he would only withdraw it if Tsai fired general manager Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash. Durant, who is entering the first year of a four-year max extension, told Tsai that he doesn’t have faith in the team’s direction.

It would have been stunning for an owner to bend to his superstar’s wishes and fire the GM and coach, then essentially let the player pick the replacements. So Tsai’s decision to publicly back Marks and Nash isn’t surprising.

The franchise’s approach to Durant’s trade request remains to be seen. There’s speculation that Durant made the ultimatum to put pressure on the front office to lower its trade demands. It’s also uncertain whether Durant will show up if he’s still on the roster during training camp.

Nets’ Durant Reportedly Reiterates Trade Request, Gives Tsai Ultimatum

August 8th, 2022 at 1:49pm CST by Luke Adams

In a face-to-face meeting with Nets owner Joe Tsai in London on Saturday, star forward Kevin Durant reiterated his desire to be traded and gave Tsai an ultimatum, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.

According to Charania, Durant told the Nets owner that he needs to choose between trading him or firing general manager Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash. Durant said that he doesn’t have faith in the team’s direction, sources tell The Athletic.

Charania says his sources described Saturday’s meeting as “transparent and professional,” adding that the Nets have “direct knowledge of the reasons behind Durant’s request” and have reason to believe he’ll be resolute in his stance. People around the NBA have speculated about the possibility that the two-time Finals MVP won’t report to training camp if the Nets don’t make a deal within the next seven weeks, per Charania.

Sources tell The Athletic that Brooklyn has spoken to nearly every team in the NBA about a possible Durant trade, but no club has met the Nets’ “sky-high” asking price. According to Charania, the Celtics, Heat, and Raptors are widely viewed as the most legitimate suitors for the 33-year-old, who is entering the first season of a four-year, maximum-salary extension.

Charania cites sources who say that Tsai and the Nets have “made clear privately that they will take every last asset from a team that trades for Durant.” However, it’s hard to see how the team has the leverage to make that sort of deal, given these latest developments in the summer saga.

Of course, Marks and Nash held their current positions when Durant signed that four-year extension a year ago, and the star forward was believed to have played a role in Nash’s hiring in the first place, back in 2020. It’s unclear why Durant has soured to such a significant extent on Brooklyn’s leadership group.

It’s possible Durant’s dissatisfaction is related, at least in part, to the team’s handling of his good friend Kyrie Irving. The Nets refused to allow Irving to be a part-time player during the first half of last season when vaccine requirements prohibited him from playing home games. The club then opted against offering Kyrie a lucrative long-term extension this offseason.

While recent reports have indicated that Irving plans to be a Net to start the 2022/23 season, there’s a belief that Brooklyn will seriously consider trading him if and when the team finds a Durant deal it likes.

Nets Notes: Lineup, Simmons, Offseason, Trades

August 7th, 2022 at 9:19pm CST by JD Shaw

The Nets are expected to test lineups with Ben Simmons at center next season, as NetsDaily outlines. Head coach Steve Nash discussed Simmons’ unique ability to play and defend multiple positions when the 2021/22 campaign ended.

“I think he plays both (point guard and center),” Nash said. “He’s just such a well-rounded, versatile athlete and skilled player that I think it would be limiting to say, ‘Hey, you’ve got to handle the ball all the time. You have to facilitate the offense all the time.’ That’s what’s special about him is the varied skills he brings to the table.

“So, yes, he’ll facilitate and be the point guard. He’ll also sometimes be the center. Other times he’ll be the guy that’s just playing position-less basketball, trying to create offense in the halfcourt. So for me, it’s playing to his strengths, which are varied, and all those things are a part of it.”

Brooklyn can play Simmons at forward, but if they start Nicolas Claxton at center, the fit may become awkward with two non-shooters. However, the team does have several top shooters in the league, including Kyrie Irving, Patty Mills, Seth Curry, Joe Harris and Kevin Durant, to partially offset that issue.

Here are some other notes out of Brooklyn:

Since there appears to be no inclination to trade Simmons, Brian Lewis of the New York Post (member-only link) examines the challenges and potential upside in using him. Simmons is a versatile defender and strong play-maker who struggles with shooting. At 6’11” and 240 pounds, he’s also a strong finisher, but his primary position is still unclear with this Nets team.
A panel of ESPN analysts (video link) discuss senior writer Kevin Pelton’s decision to grade the Nets’ offseason as a D-plus. Pelton didn’t love that the team traded a first-round pick for Royce O’Neale and cited the lingering uncertainty surrounding Irving and Durant’s futures.
Speaking of Irving and Durant, we recently examined the latest on the duo. As SNY.tv’s Ian Begley relayed, sources around the situation were pessimistic about a Durant trade being finalized anytime soon. Irving, on the other hand, is reportedly focused on staying with Brooklyn entering the season.

Heat Notes: Trade Possibilities, Eastern Conference, Mexico City Game

August 7th, 2022 at 1:48pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Beyond re-signing many of their own free agents, the Heat have remained relatively quiet this summer, writes Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Miami enjoyed a successful 2021/22 campaign, and found itself one win shy of qualifying for their second NBA Finals appearance in three years.

Aside from the big fish – Nets All-Star forward Kevin Durant and Jazz All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell – there are many other viable trade candidates the team could look to add this summer after having lost starting power forward P.J. Tucker in free agency, says Winderman. He lists players like Pacers big man Myles Turner, Hawks power forward John Collins, Kings forward Harrison Barnes, Hornets power forward Gordon Hayward, and Suns power forward Jae Crowder – a starter on Miami’s 2020 Finals team – as potentially attainable frontcourt players who could help the Heat replace Tucker.

Winderman notes that Miami has three big pieces it could include in a trade: swingman Duncan Robinson and his $16.9MM salary; extension-eligible 2022 Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro; and the ability to send out up to three first-round draft picks, plus this year’s No. 27 pick, Nikola Jovic. Winderman acknowledges that emptying the team’s coffers to get a less starry component than Durant or Mitchell could leave the team’s front office feeling as if it missed out.

There’s more out of South Beach:

Though the Heat’s competitors in the Eastern Conference have, on paper, made moves to improve their rosters, Winderman wonders in a recent reader mailbag if the gains made by Miami’s East rivals may have been somewhat overstated. Though Winderman concedes that the acquisitions made by the Celtics and Hawks were fairly major, he thinks that the rest of the competitive portion of the conference made merely supplemental moves.
When the NBA’s full schedule is announced later this month, it will reveal that the Heat are set to play their second Mexico City regular season contest in five seasons, Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes in a separate piece. As Winderman details, Miami will play at an elevation even more extreme than the NBA’s normal high, Denver, at 5,280 feet above sea level — Mexico City stands 7,350 feet above sea level. This Mexico City return game is among several international contests the league is scheduling during the preseason and regular season for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Games are also scheduled to take place this year in Abu Dhabi, between the Hawks and Bucks, during the October preseason and in Paris, between the Bulls and Pistons, in January.

Latest On Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving

August 5th, 2022 at 10:12am CST by Luke Adams

With no indication that the Nets have made any recent progress on a trade involving Kevin Durant, Ian Begley of SNY.tv says multiple people familiar with those discussions were pessimistic late last month about the odds of a deal getting done anytime soon.

As Begley explains, those sources suggested that teams around the NBA aren’t eager to be the third or fourth team in a trade that sends Durant to another club.

“No one wants to help (Brooklyn get a deal done),” one team told Begley.

While some of Durant’s potential suitors – including the Celtics and Raptors – have the pieces necessary to get a deal done without bringing in a third team, others would be hard-pressed to do so.

The designated rookie extension rule that prevents the Nets from acquiring certain players while Ben Simmons is on their roster further complicate certain straight-up trade scenarios — for instance, even if the Heat are willing to send Bam Adebayo to Brooklyn in a package for Durant, the two teams would likely need to bring in another team to take Simmons.

According to Begley, one source he spoke to near the end of July described the Durant talks as being in a “holding pattern.” It’s unclear if the meeting reported to be taking place between Durant and Nets owner Joe Tsai has occurred yet or if it will help the situation move forward at all.

Meanwhile, there have been no reports as of late indicating that the Nets have been actively pursuing a trade involving Kyrie Irving. According to Begley, a source close to the star point guard said this week that Irving is in a good place with the team and is comfortable remaining in Brooklyn to begin the 2022/23 season.

Kevin Durant To Meet With Nets Owner Joe Tsai?

August 2nd, 2022 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

It has been over a month since star forward Kevin Durant requested a trade out of Brooklyn, and with no indication that any deal is imminent, Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com cites a source who says a meeting between Durant and Nets owner Joe Tsai is expected to take place in the coming days.

“What I’m hearing is that KD is going to meet with the owner this week,” Bulpett’s source said. “He’s going to go directly to the owner, Joe Tsai, sometime this week. We’ll see how that works.”

Assuming that meeting takes place, it’s unclear what would come of it. It’s possible Durant wants to reiterate his request to be moved and to check in on where things stand. It’s also not out of the realm of possibility that he could back off that trade request if he gets certain assurances from Tsai and the Nets.

“I have no idea what’s going to come of that meeting,” the source told Bulpett. “There are some things that KD is unhappy about, and I’m not sure any of that gets fixed here. But maybe it does.”

The most recent solid rumor we heard related to the Durant sweepstakes surfaced last Monday, when ESPN and The Athletic reported that the Celtics had talked to the Nets about a possible deal and had been willing to include Jaylen Brown in their offer. Subsequent reporting has suggested that the offer in question was weeks old, and Bulpett says some of his sources have pushed back against the notion that it was ever really on the table.

The fact that the Celtics’ interest – and Brown’s potential availability – leaked at all didn’t sit well with some people around the NBA, one personnel executive from another club told Bulpett.

“I think there’s some teams that aren’t very happy that when they talk to Brooklyn it gets in the papers,” the executive said. “That doesn’t help. I’ve talked with a couple of teams that are not happy with the rumors that creep out of there through all this. It’s not a good way to do business.”

The exec added that he the Celtics and Nets “haven’t had any conversations for a while” and expressed skepticism that the two teams will get a deal done, according to Bulpett.

Community Shootaround: Nets’ Future

July 31st, 2022 at 8:52pm CST by JD Shaw

With the futures of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant unclear, the Nets have a number of important decisions to make in the coming weeks and months. Durant requested a trade from the organization just over a month ago, while Irving reportedly hasn’t asked to be dealt since exercising his player option, but neither player is a lock to open the season in Brooklyn.

Durant and Irving — alongside DeAndre Jordan — first joined the Nets during the summer of 2019. The team has had a championship-caliber roster more than once since then, but injuries, availability and chemistry issues have hampered its chances of winning a title.

According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Insider-only), many figures around the league believe it’s virtually impossible to trade Durant. The 33-year-old has four years left on his contract and is a consensus top-five player in the world, making it difficult for rival teams to match Brooklyn’s high asking price. The Nets, according to Lowe, are hopeful Durant realizes this and eventually retracts his trade demand.

If the Nets find a way to trade Durant, the team would likely acquire high-level talent and a significant amount of draft capital. They would still have Irving, Seth Curry, Joe Harris, T.J. Warren, Ben Simmons, Nicolas Claxton and others, unless any of the players are included in the deal, of course.

We want to know what you think. If you were the Nets, what would you do? Would you shop around Durant and Irving with hopes of rebuilding, or would you only look to trade one player? Should Brooklyn consider moving any other players? If Durant retracts his request, are the Nets good enough to win a championship? Take to the comments section below and voice your opinions!

Eastern Notes: Heat, Hachimura, Avdija, Celtics, Durant

July 31st, 2022 at 7:36pm CST by JD Shaw

The Heat have an effective offseason program — and players such as Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Kyle Lowry are certainly working on their craft — but Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel questions how much stock should be put into it right now, particularly given the team’s roster situation.

Miami still has a strong core, one that includes Tyler Herro, Victor Oladipo and others outside of the aforementioned names. However, the team lost starting power forward P.J. Tucker to Philadelphia and hasn’t re-signed forward Markieff Morris, raising questions about who else will start in the frontcourt.

The Heat did re-sign Caleb Martin and have second-year player Haywood Highsmith, but Martin is viewed as an undersized power forward and Highsmith is still in the process of proving himself. Miami can use a starting-caliber forward alongside Butler and Adebayo — and whether it happens may directly impact their level of success this season.

There’s more out of the Eastern Conference tonight:

Wizards forwards Rui Hachimura and Deni Avdija are quietly giving the team hope, Ethan Fuller of BasketballNews.com writes. Washington finished 35-47 last season and missed the playoffs, but if the club fails to make the postseason again, it’ll still have Hachimura and Avdija for the future. Hachimura (24) was the No. 9 pick in 2019, while Avdija (21) was drafted ninth overall in 2020.
The Celtics‘ biggest concern with a potential Kevin Durant trade could be Jayson Tatum, Sherrod Blakely of Full Court Press writes. If they were to acquire Durant, the Celtics may be taking the ball out of Tatum’s hands more, which would require time to sort through. This type of major addition has succeeded before (ie. LeBron James joining Dwyane Wade in Miami), but it requires time, patience and players willing to sacrifice for the team.

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.

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.