After yesterday’s report from The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach revealed some of the Celtics parameters for a possible deal for the Nets’ Kevin Durant that included not trading for Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and balking at a package of Brown, Marcus Smart, and picks, NBC Sports’ Kurt Helin has another dealbreaker:
There’s good reason for pessimism (on a potential KD trade). Durant’s ultimatum to Nets owner Joe Tsai did not light a fire under trade talks. If anything, it made it far less likely a deal gets done in the short term. — why would Boston improve its offer now? It robbed the Nets of leverage. For example, Brooklyn was trying to get Boston to put Smart in the trade, but why would they even consider it now?
That said, even without Smart (or Robert Williams III, sources told NBC Sports he is not available), a Celtics offer with Jaylen Brown may be the best one the Nets will see.
We’ve yet to see the Time Lord’s name in any rumored trade package and now, it looks like he’s unavailable. The 2022 2nd Team All-Defense center starts the first year of a team-friendly four-year, $48 million contract next season, an absolute hometown bargain for Boston and was a key component to the league’s best defense last year. Any hesitation to include him in a deal — even if it’s for one of the greatest players of this generation — seems reasonable.
