Kevin Durant Ends Trade Request After Meeting With Nets Management

After a long summer of speculation and rumors, the Nets announced Tuesday that Kevin Durant isn’t going anywhere. In a statement from general manager Sean Marks, it was made clear that there will be no regime changes and Durant will not be dealt anywhere anytime soon. 

“Steve Nash and I, together with Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai, met with Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman in Los Angeles yesterday,” Marks said in the statement. “We have agreed to move forward with our partnership. We are focusing on basketball, with one collective goal in mind: build a lasting franchise to bring a championship to Brooklyn. 

On June 30, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that Durant requested a trade out of Brooklyn. Less than two months later, Charania reported Durant met with Tsai, and said he needed to choose between Durant or general manager Sean Marks and coach Steve Nash. That choice never came to fruition, and Durant now seems to be alongside Brookyln’s braintrust for the foreseeable future. 

Durant is entering the first year of a four-year, $198 million contract extension he signed last summer and is now expected to star alongside Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons. This past season, he averaged 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists in 55 games for Brooklyn.