Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
And this is where things start getting spicy.
Although it still seems unlikely, it is no longer unfathomable to consider the possibility of Kevin Durant being traded this offseason, and it could be dependent on what happens with the No. 1 player on this ranking.
According to Logan Murdock, Durant isn’t happy with how the Brooklyn Nets have handled Kyrie Irving and his intricacies, and hasn’t spoken to the team in weeks:
Not much of Murdock’s take was optimistic if you’re a Nets fan. Indeed, he referred to the franchise’s current situation as “destruction” in the podcast and suggested perhaps more firmly than other pundits that Durant could indeed leave. “The vision is on the verge of crumbling,” he wrote. “It didn’t have to be this way,” he said, summing up. “This team … and it’s ironic. Kevin came to reconcile relationships, build relationships with his BFF’s and it’s not working out. It’s doing the exact opposite. And you juxtapose that with Golden State winning…” “Now, you have reports that Kyrie is looking elsewhere. I made some calls. Kevin Durant has not talked to the team in weeks. I don’t think Kevin is confident in the front office right now. I don’t know if he’s at the stage of leaving but there’s a big uneasiness from not only from the Kyrie side, but the KD side as well.
Players around the league have taken heed of the scuttle, too, as Damian Lillard is outright recruiting Durant on social media:
Damian Lillard on Instagram 😳 pic.twitter.com/aCiD44KnJp
— Dionysis Aravantinos (@AravantinosDA) June 25, 2022
Teams are taking note, too, according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, who reported that rival franchises are preparing for the possibility that Durant asks out of Brooklyn:
But whatever the case, teams are reportedly making preparations for the Nets star potentially being available in the coming days. That’s according to ESPN insider Zach Lowe on a post-NBA draft episode of his Lowe Post podcast: “I can tell you this. This is what teams are doing. Teams are already operating under, not the assumption, but ‘we need to prepare for the contingency that Kevin Durant is available via trade in six days or seven days.’ … The whole league is now.”
Things could be sorted out quickly if the Nets reach an agreement with Irving, but if the mercurial point guard does make his way out, all eyes will immediately turn to Durant and the NBA offseason could get hectic.
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