New York Knicks fans are preoccupied with a possible Donovan Mitchell trade rather than wondering what the Brooklyn Nets are going to do with Kevin Durant, but with trade talks stalled between the Knicks and Utah Jazz, fans can find their entertainment in the latest KD report.
On June 30, otherwise known as the day that Jalen Brunson agreed to sign with the Knicks in free agency, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Durant had requested a trade from Brooklyn. Here we are over a month later, and both KD and Kyrie Irving are still with the Nets.
Training camp is set to begin at the end of next month and a few weeks after that, the 2022-23 season will begin. And with Durant’s future still up in the air due to the team’s trade demands, signs have pointed towards him remaining in Brooklyn. Well, that was until The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that KD gave owner Joe Tsai an ultimatum.
In a meeting with Nets owner Joe Tsai, Kevin Durant reiterated his trade request and informed Tsai that Tsai needs to choose between Durant or the pairing of general manager Sean Marks and coach Steve Nash, sources say.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 8, 2022
Story: https://t.co/W1voNf9MDC
Knicks fans can look back and be relieved at the way that the summer of 2019 played out
After Durant and Irving signed with Brooklyn back in the summer of 2019, Nets fans claimed that it had everything to do with their culture. That same culture has failed to get them out of the second round of the playoffs in the past three seasons. And according to how KD feels (subscription required), that same culture is what could cause the organization to lose him.
"In a face-to-face meeting with Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai over the weekend, All-NBA star Kevin Durant reiterated his trade request and informed Tsai that he needs to choose between Durant or the pairing of general manager Sean Marks and coach Steve Nash, sources tell The Athletic.Durant stated he does not have faith in the team’s direction, sources said."
You can think what you want about Durant and the way in which he’s approached this situation, but the Nets clearly have some deep-rooted issues. Even if both KD and Kyrie were to stay (and play) for another season, Brooklyn isn’t constructed to make a deep playoff run, and the offseason drama has made the matter even worse.
Now, the Nets could fire Steve Nash to try to reconcile the relationship with Durant, but who’s to say that KD won’t request a trade again midseason before the February deadline? Or again next summer?
The Knicks don’t have someone of Durant’s caliber on their roster, or someone of Irving’s caliber, but they do have players who actually want to be in New York. And based on the team’s offseason moves, the Knicks are in a far better position than the Nets. Even if KD and Kyrie stay in Brooklyn, it’ll only be a matter of time until things implode again.
The summer of 2019 might’ve brought disappointment to Knicks fans, but it also brought RJ Barrett to New York. Looking back now, that was the real win.
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