NBA Executive: Teams Struggling With Nets Asking Price for Kevin Durant
It's gotten very quiet around Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant, as teams such as the Phoenix Suns are now on standby as they prepare to see this saga drawn out despite Durant making his trade request nearly a month ago.
Nets general manager Sean Marks finds himself in interesting territory, as Brooklyn doesn't necessarily have to deal Durant to his choice (reportedly down to Phoenix or Miami) but rather has the luxury of waiting until the proper deal comes thanks to Durant having four years left on his contract.
The Nets are asking for... well, a lot. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Nets have asked newly anointed leaders of the KD race in Boston for "Jaylen Brown, Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, draft picks and potentially one more rotation player."
Many insiders have claimed this situation may not even see the light at the end of the tunnel until further down the road when the regular season is underway.
One anonymous NBA executive spoke with Heavy.com and offered the following on what Brooklyn is asking for, and why talks may have slowed down surrounding Durant:
Anonymous NBA Exec Dishes on Brooklyn, Durant Trade Talks
“I have no idea where other people’s discussions are,” the league exec told Heavy.com. "But the sense that I’ve gotten when I’ve talked to other teams about this is that they’re all in similar places. It’s basically that Brooklyn is asking for a lot, and the question was what your team would have left if you did get KD. I think teams are struggling with that, which is maybe why things have gotten a little quiet.
“I think the challenge for most teams who are involved in it is you’ve got to be able to come out of it with enough to win a championship — immediately. It can’t be like, OK, we make the trade and then we need to rebuild what you’ve given up. I think that’s a challenge for everybody.
“For what they want — quote/unquote ‘the biggest haul ever’ — I think it’s going to be tough to be left with enough to win it all. Because if you trade for Kevin Durant, you’d better damn well be in the business of winning it all right now. You can’t be looking at taking time to rebuild your assets. This is for everything now. And if you’re already a good team and you shorten your window, what’s the whole point?"
The Suns, in their pursuits of Durant, have reportedly kept Mikal Bridges off the table in negotiations in hopes of featuring a lineup that includes Chris Paul-Devin Booker-Mikal Bridges-Kevin Durant-Deandre Ayton.
Many believed Ayton to be a valuable trade piece to initiate a three-team trade that would land Durant in Phoenix, although his recently matched offer sheet won't allow that to happen until Jan. 15.
Even then, Ayton has power to veto a trade involving him for the first year of his new deal.
It's a mysterious black hole that will eventually come to an end, as anybody's best guess is where Durant will be featured next season.
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