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Kevin Durant Will Remain a Sixers Rival as Nets Squash Trade Plans

Kevin Durant shocked the basketball world in late June by requesting a trade from the Brooklyn Nets. His request came just one year after signing a multi-year
Justin Grasso|
Kevin Durant Will Remain a Sixers Rival as Nets Squash Trade Plans
Kevin Durant Will Remain a Sixers Rival as Nets Squash Trade Plans

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Philadelphia 76ersBrooklyn Nets

Kevin Durant shocked the basketball world in late June by requesting a trade from the Brooklyn Nets. His request came just one year after signing a multi-year extension.

According to reports, Durant didn’t like the direction the Nets were moving in and was skeptical about the head coach Steve Nash, and the general manager, Sean Marks.

Weeks went by without any real traction on trade discussions. Eventually, Durant met with the Nets’ ownership to reiterate his interest in a trade unless fundamental changes were going to be made in the front office and on the coaching staff.

Nets owner Joe Tsai clarified that Nash and Marks would stay on board. Therefore, Durant remained interested in getting moved ahead of the 2022-2023 season.

Many teams across the league inquired about the star forward, including the Philadelphia 76ers. Unfortunately for interested teams, talks didn’t go very far. On Monday, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that several teams made significant trade offers, which the Nets declined.

While there wasn’t any sign of the saga ending on Monday, Tuesday is a different story. Per Charania, Durant, along with his representation, met with Tsai, Marks, and Nash on Monday to hash everything out. Now, it seems all is well again in Brooklyn for the time being.

“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 a released 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 in Brooklyn.”

For the last few weeks, it seemed there was a good chance Durant would land on an Eastern Conference contender. While he won’t be traded away this offseason, the Sixers will continue to face Durant several times a season as he’s set to remain in Brooklyn with Ben Simmons and Kyrie Irving. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.

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Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Justin Grasso was a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s Philadelphia 76ers On SI Network. Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writers Association. Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoMedia Threads: @JGrassoMedia

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