Report: Durant trade talks between top suitors have been ‘non-existent’ of late originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
There doesn’t appear to be a whole lot happening on the Kevin Durant trade front.
We’re coming up on two months since Durant requested a trade from the Nets, and unless something drastically changes over the next couple of weeks, the chances of him being on Brooklyn’s roster to begin the regular season seem fairly high.
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What’s the latest update on Durant’s situation?
“The Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat remain among the most serious threats to land Durant because they have the types of pieces necessary to satisfy the Nets’ asking price in a deal for the two-time NBA Finals MVP,” The Athletic’s Shams Charania wrote Monday.
“However, no one yet has met Brooklyn’s high price tag of an All-Star, other high-level players and draft picks — and conversations with those three front-runners have been non-existent recently.”
Charania also reports that the Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies have also expressed some interest in Durant, but that “none of those conversations gained much traction.”
The Celtics don’t need to blow up their roster and make a bold move for Durant.
They just reached the NBA Finals, and they improved their scoring depth and versatility by adding Malcolm Brogdon (via trade) and Danilo Gallinari (via free agency) over the offseason. Boston has not lost any significant pieces from last year’s roster, either. There’s a reason why several projections have the Celtics finishing atop the Eastern Conference standings next season.
Even though Durant is still one of the top three players in the league when healthy, acquiring him does have risks. He’ll be 34 years old on Opening Night in October, and he’s just beginning a four-year, $198 million contract extension. Injuries have been an issue for Durant, too, as he’s missed 172 of the Nets’ 246 regular season games since he signed with them in 2019.
The Nets should be patient. Durant isn’t anywhere close to free agency, and thus his leverage isn’t very large. Failing to hit a home run on this trade — if that’s what ultimately happens — could set the franchise back several years.