The Rudy Gobert trade seems to have really hurt Durant’s chances of having his trade request fulfilled, as the massive haul Utah received for the limited offensive center means that a team is going to have to come through with a gargantuan offer to land Durant.
As such, talks for Durant have reportedly slowed to a trickle with the Nets no longer being aggressive in making outgoing calls on that front:
“The trade talks involving Kevin Durant have slowed to a trickle. They are not aggressively, I am told, making the outgoing calls.”
— Brian Windhorst#NBATwitter #NetsWorld pic.twitter.com/rINc9UcnJu
— 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣’ 𝙉𝘽𝘼 (@_Talkin_NBA) July 20, 2022
What’s more, Durant and his camp appear to have gone dark on Brooklyn once again. Could he come back and rescind his trade request? The Nets are certainly hoping that is the case:
“Nobody knows what Kevin Durant is thinking right now. His communication with teammates and others in the league has been sparse. I don’t even think that the Nets have a 100% understanding of why Kevin asked for a trade.”
— Brian Windhorst#NBATwitter #NetsWorld pic.twitter.com/uUZZo0hjVh
— 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣’ 𝙉𝘽𝘼 (@_Talkin_NBA) July 20, 2022
As far as actual trade scuttle, the latest report tells us that with regards to a potential Durant swap to the Heat, Brooklyn isn’t interested in a Miami offer that doesn’t include All-Star big man Bam Adebayo:
And with Kevin Durant, I mean, just from my conversations with people around the situation, I just don’t see Brooklyn having any real interest in any Miami package that doesn’t bring back Bam Adebayo.
And with league rules stating that the Nets can’t have Adebayo and Ben Simmons on the same roster due to the nature of their most recent contracts, that would require a lot of effort and a third team to likely be involved.
Things on this front can change quickly but as of now, Durant trade talks look to be nearly silent.
For the latest Kevin Durant rumors, click here.
