Six days before the Feb. 9 deadline, Shams Charania broke the news that Kyrie Irving had requested a trade from the Nets. Things appeared to be going well over in Brooklyn, but if we’ve learned anything in the past four years, it’s that drama follows the Nets.
Friday was a particularly good day for New York Knicks fans who have been clowned for the past several years about their favorite team not landing Irving and Kevin Durant in 2019. In retrospect, Irving and KD not signing with New York turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Brooklyn has climbed up the Eastern Conference standings to No. 4 and KD is expected to return soon after he sprained his MCL on Jan. 8. It seemed as if the Nets were finally back on track after making it past James Harden’s trade request and Irving’s anti-vaccine campaign, but all of that was derailed on Friday afternoon.
Breaking: Brooklyn Nets All-Star Kyrie Irving has requested a trade, league sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. The franchise has been informed that Irving prefers to move on ahead of the Feb. 9 trade deadline – or will leave in free agency in July.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 3, 2023
Here’s the question that many are wondering – What does all of this mean for Kevin Durant?
Should Knicks be considering a Kevin Durant trade after Kyrie Irving news?
Over the summer, Kevin Durant was the Nets player that shocked the NBA world by requesting a trade hours before free agency was set to begin. After what felt more like an eternity than a few months, he decided to “move forward” with Brooklyn.
Before he came to that conclusion, though, there was plenty of speculation about which team Durant would end up on. Although Sean Marks and Joe Tsai would likely rather do anything BUT trade KD to the Knicks, that was a possibility given New York’s assets.
Here we are seven months later, and that’s emerged as a topic of conversation again. With the Nets deciding what’s best for them amid the Irving drama, KD could soon be on his way out. Brooklyn isn’t in the position to rebuild and with Durant at the age of 34, it wouldn’t be surprising at all if he were to be traded, especially since that’s something he wanted a few months ago.
Among rival teams, there's far more interest in inquiring on Kevin Durant's reaction to Kyrie Irving's trade request and how that may impact KD's future with the Nets.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 3, 2023
The Knicks missed out on Donovan Mitchell and are on the lookout for the next star to pursue. Whether you think that New York should trade for KD or not, it’s a possibility that the front office has to explore. After this season, Durant still has three full years left on the four-year, $198 million extension that he signed ahead of the 2021-22 season. A trade wouldn’t come cheap, especially given where the trade market’s at, but the Knicks have what it would take to get a deal done.
Based on the teams that were on KD’s preferred list after he requested a trade, the Suns would likely emerge as the frontrunner (again) in Durant trade talks.
Never say never on a Kevin Durant-Knicks trade, but in this case, it might be better to say never.
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