Finally, Kevin Durant decides… to stay in Brooklyn

All that for this… Kevin Durant had requested a trade at the end of June. Application accepted by Brooklyn. The Nets still had to agree with another franchise, knowing that the 33-year-old superstar still has four years of contract at Barclays Center. We talked about Miami, Phoenix, Toronto, Boston and, lately, Memphis. The hypothesis of a return to Golden State was even mentioned for a time. But no offer has managed to seduce Sean Marks.

Finally, he should no longer receive any: “KD” left to stay. The GM of Brooklyn affirms this Tuesday in a statement in the form of a thunderclap: “Steve Nash (coach) and I, along with Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai (owners of the franchise), met Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman (his agent) in Los Angeles yesterday (Monday). We agreed to go to continue our partnership. We are focused on basketball, with a common goal in mind: to build a lasting franchise to bring a title to Brooklyn.Barring an XXL bluff, this is tantamount to saying that Kevin Durant canceled his trade request. Move along, there is nothing left to see !

Title objective

Between the soap opera Kyrie Irving, the latter has finally activated his option for next season after long eyeing a departure and a possible reunion with LeBron James at the LA Lakers, and the Kevin Durant saga, the summer turned out to be eventful at the Barclays Center, to put it mildly. But in the end, Steve Nash will leave with his star tandem in 2022-23. Title objective for the Nets, it is clear. “In the end, events unfolded the same way between Kevin Durant and the Nets as Kobe Bryant and the Lakers did in 2007: a tumultuous summer after a trade request, discussions with teams, no agreement and finally a decision. to return to the franchise“Summarizes Adrian Wojnarowski. The opportunity to remember that the “Black Mamba” would have been 44 years old on Tuesday.

Between the injuries of some, the refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19 of others – this is about Kyrie Irving – and the trade of James Harden, the Nets ended the last campaign in seventh place in the East in the regular season (44v-38d) before being “sweeped” by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the play-offs (0-4). To see when Ben Simmons can come to the aid of “KD” and “Uncle Drew”, he who did not play all last season.

Joe Harris, Seth Curry and another Patty Mills are still there. Royce O’Neale was traded from the Jazz while TJ Warren, who didn’t play in 2021-22, signed for a year. There is still work to be done, but the base is solid for Sean Marks and company. Especially around a Kevin Durant who was worth 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists on average in 2021-22 (55 games).