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The Golden State Warriors appear to be out of the Kevin Durant sweepstakes. During an interview with NBA.com on Wednesday night prior to the ESPYs, Warriors GM Bob Myers suggested the defending champs won’t be making any major moves this summer.
“I like our team and where it’s at,” Myers said. “I want to give the guys a chance to do it again. We kept most of it together, but we have to stay healthy. I didn’t think we’d make it last year, but we did. I watch like you do. We’ll see what happens.
“It’s a good group. We’re lucky. It’ll be fun to see. We were really hunting last year. Now I guess we’re back to being the hunted, which I didn’t think we’d be. We’ll see. I think we can handle it.”
A reunion between Durant and the Warriors has always been unlikely, but speculation swirled following the superstar’s trade request from the Brooklyn Nets. At one point, the Warriors stars even reached out to their former teammate to discuss the situation. But while it would have made for an amazing story, a trade has really never been feasible.
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Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green aren’t getting dealt, Andrew Wiggins is ineligible to be traded to the Nets while Ben Simmons is still on the roster due to the “Designated Rookie” rule and the Warriors’ desire to win on two timelines means they won’t move their young lottery picks. On paper the Warriors have the ability to put together a trade package for Durant, but in practice they clearly would not be willing to meet the Nets’ asking price.
As the Warriors focus on a repeat, the wait will continue for Durant. Three weeks after he requested a trade he remains a member of the Brooklyn Nets, and barring a drastic shift on the trade market, that won’t change any time soon. The Nets don’t appear to be interested in any of the deals currently on the table, and Brian Windhorst reported earlier this week that the team is willing to keep Durant into next season if they don’t get better offers.
With Durant under contract until 2026, the team has no urgency to move him for anything less than they’re asking. While heading into next season with both Durant and Kyrie Irving still on the roster would create an uncomfortable situation, it would give the team a better chance to win than dumping either of those two players for less than what they’re worth.
