The star of the franchise Kevin Durant requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, his business manager Rich Kleiman told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Nets general manager Sean Marks is working with Durant and Kleiman to find a trade, Kleiman told ESPN. The Nets, however, aren’t necessarily going to honor KD’s preferred destinations and plan to make the best deal for them, sources told ESPN.
Durant made the trade request directly to Nets owner Joe Tsai on Thursday, sources told ESPN.
As the Nets prepare to move one of the most valuable business assets on the market, the entire roster will be available to discuss deals, sources told ESPN. Teams have been calling up Durant, and the Nets will certainly be looking for a historic comeback in players and draft picks.
The Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat are among two of the teams Durant has on his wish list, sources told ESPN, but the Nets plan to move Durant where they can get the best possible deal. With four years on his contract, there is no shortage of teams willing to offload assets to land Durant.
Durant, 33, who won’t become an unrestricted free agent until 2026, is scheduled to earn $44.1 million during the 2022-23 season.
He and Kyrie Irving they had no contact with the Nets after Irving opted out of his deal on Monday, and there was a sense of inevitability that Durant would eventually request a trade, sources told ESPN.
The Nets, picked by many before the season to win the NBA championship, finished with a 44-38 record in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, and a playoff spot cemented with a playoff win. -in on the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 12.
They were swept by the Celtics in the first round.
In the past three seasons, the Nets have played 247 games (including playoffs and play-in). Durant and Irving were on the floor together in just 58 of those games (23%).
Durant averaged 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists this season, but saw action in just 55 games during the regular season while recovering from an MCL injury.
If traded, it would be the highest scoring average of any player who started the next season on a new team since Moses Malone was traded from Houston to Philadelphia after the 1981-82 season, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Sportsbooks adjusted the odds on winning next season’s NBA championship following news of Durant’s trade request, and the Suns became title favorites.
Phoenix’s title odds improved from 9-1 to 11-2 in Caesar’s Sportsbook. The champion Golden State Warriors are next at 6-1, followed by the Boston Celtics at 13-1. Miami’s odds improved from 16-1 to 8-1, while the Nets’ title odds increased from 15-2 to 30-1 on Thursday afternoon.
In other news, the Nets acquired Royce O’Neale from the Utah Jazz in exchange for a 2023 first-round pick, sources told ESPN. The pick that goes to Utah will be the lesser of them, Houston or Philadelphia, sources told ESPN.
O’Neale, 29, averaged 7.4 points and 4.8 rebounds in his fifth season with the Jazz.
We would love to say thanks to the author of this write-up for this amazing material
Agent: Durant calls for Nets trade