There does not appear to have been much movement on the Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving trade front over the holiday weekend.
With Durant, the Nets want a colossal return. Not many teams can provide that, and even the ones that can have hang-ups. There is also Durant’s supposed desire to not have his new team gut itself in order to acquire him, which is cute. The song also remains the same with Irving: The Lakers are the only team believed to want anything to do with him, and even their level of interest is unclear.
Which brings us to this scenario, as floated by Brian Lewis of The Post: The Nets drag this thing into training camp. Or even beyond.
From The Post:
[W]ith four years left on his contract, and Kyrie Irving having opted in to the last year of his deal, the Nets have leverage and every intention of using it. And league personnel say the Nets have implied if they don’t get what they want, this could well drag on into training camp.
(…)
With tons of offers for Durant, but none they couldn’t refuse and no rush to move him, the Nets are putting out the vibe that they could bring the forward (and maybe even Irving) into camp and see if all parties can make this work. Or if not, all play nice until a world-beating trade proposal is made.
It’s an interesting point. While Irving has made it clear he is perfectly OK with not working and not getting paid, Durant doesn’t seem to be wired for a prolonged holdout. And this may be like one of those serious injuries you get to play with because you cannot hurt it any further. It’s not like the Nets can really become more drama-plagued and dysfunction than they already are. If they hold the cards, they might as well hold out for the best deal.
James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com
