Three Teams Seen As Frontrunners for Kevin Durant Trade, per Report

Three teams are still considered to be the “most significant candidates” to acquire Kevin Durant in a trade following the star forward’s meeting with Nets owner Joe Tsai this weekend according to a report from Shams Charania–the Celtics, Raptors and Heat.

It’s been widely reported that the trio of Eastern Conference clubs has been working to put together a trade package for Durant since the 33-year-old first asked out of Brooklyn at the end of June. However, no team has been able to entice the Nets with an acceptable offer as of early August.

Charania did specifically report that Boston’s supposed package centered around All-Star forward Jaylen Brown is still seen as a “viable deal.” However, Charania previously reported that Brooklyn rejected an earlier offer from the Celtics, countering by asking for Brown, point guard Marcus Smart, multiple picks and potentially one more rotation player.

The latest reset of the Durant sweepstakes comes after the 12-time All-Star held a face-to-face meeting over the weekend in London with Tsai in which he reiterated his trade request, according to Charania. 

In the meeting, Durant informed Tsai that he did not have faith in the team’s direction, and that Tsai needed to choose between Durant or general manager Sean Marks and coach Steve Nash.

Durant is entering the first year of a four-year, $198 million contract extension he signed with the Nets last summer following his first complete season in Brooklyn. The two-time finals MVP first signed with the Eastern Conference franchise in 2019, but missed all of the ’19–20 season recovering from an Achilles injury before returning to play in just 35 games during the ’20–21 campaign.

In 55 games last year, Durant averaged 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists but couldn’t lift the Nets out of a first-round series against the Celtics. Brooklyn was swept by Boston, kicking off a tumultuous offseason for the franchise.

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