Durant has been with the Nets since 2019, but his tenure has been tough amid injuries, losses and turmoil among his teammates.
Networks' last foray into the world of super teams may be over.
Kevin Durant, a 12-time All-Star, asked the Nets to trade it, according to a person familiar with the request and not authorized to discuss it publicly. Durant's business manager Rich Kleiman told ESPN that the networks gave him permission to find a business partner. Durant's request came three days after Kyrie Irving was selected for the final year of his four-year contract with The Nets.
Durant and Irving signed with the Nets in 2019 on four-year contracts, but Durant last year signed an extension that runs until the 2025-26 season. Irving could be traded into the final year of his contract.
Durant, 33, is widely considered one of the best strikers in the NBA. Date. He was named the league's Most Valuable Player in 2014, one of four seasons in which he led the NB in scoring.
Last season, Durant appeared in 55 games and averaged 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game.
He and Irving came to Brooklyn in hopes of winning a championship together.
"We want to end our careers together. We want to do it as a team, and what better place to do that than Brooklyn?" Irving told reporters at his inaugural press conference in 2019.
Durant was the second overall pick for the 2007 NBA Draft, chosen by the Seattle Supersonics, which later became the Oklahoma City Thunder. Durant spent nine seasons with the franchise before signing with Golden State in 2016. There, he helped Golden State win back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018, earning an M.V.P. All those endings. Durant tore his Achilles in the 2019 finals, which Golden State lost to the Toronto Raptors.
Irving, a seven-time All-Star, also won a championship before joining the Nets in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The 2019-20 season, a first with the Nets for Durant and Irving, was cut short by the coronavirus, but for the Nets it still looked lackluster. Durant's recovery from an Achilles tendon injury continued throughout the year, and the nets were disqualified. During the 2020-21 season, the team added James Harden mid-season after requesting a replacement from the Houston Rockets, but lost in the second round of the playoffs.
Then the Nets started last season with all three stars ready to go. But New York's coronavirus vaccination mandate means Irving, who declined to be vaccinated, will not be able to play in Brooklyn. The Nets decided that Irving would sit until he was eligible for all games rather than allow him to be a part-time player. But they recovered in December and began playing away matches in January.
Durant and the Harden helped the Nets top the Eastern Conference, but the team faltered after Durant sustained a shoulder injury in January.
Harden, angered by Irving's absence, demanded a business deal and Ben Simmons sent her to Philadelphia in February. Simmons was mentally and physically ill and had not yet played the net. In March, New York vaccination rules changed and Irving became eligible to play for the Brooklyn team.
The Nets had the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, but even though they've been as round as they've been all year, the Boston Celtics swept them in the first round.
"We had high expectations," Durant said after the fourth game of the series. "Everyone had high expectations for us, but a lot of things happened throughout the season that derailed us."
He later added, "I don't regret it."
Even when Irving was criticized by the media and fans, Durant publicly endorsed him. With rumors swirling recently that Irving wants to leave Brooklyn, Durant said in his podcast that he hasn't been involved with Irving's potential free agency.
"Basketball is definitely the most important thing, but I try not to let that get in the way of someone else's decision," Durant said. “Like I said, no matter what happens, the friendship will remain.”
Durant's request comes as league offices scramble to determine what their rosters will look like next season, whether through deals or free agency contracts. Teams and players were able to begin discussing the free agent offers at 6:00 PM. M. Thursday, and you could make it official on July 6.
Durant's superior talent will attract multiple teams, even though he has $193 million left on his contract with the Nets. Offers to players of his caliber often include multiple first-round draft picks.
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