Around this time three years ago, the Brooklyn Nets were rejoicing as a franchise since Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving both joined the team in 2019 free agency, instantly making the Nets, a franchise that has never won a championship, a real title contender in the Eastern Conference.
Well, here we are three years later and everything is falling apart for the Nets and they still have zero titles. Kevin Durant has requested a trade and should he be granted this request, Kyrie Irving will very likely be following him out the door in Brooklyn.
So much has gone wrong from the Nets from both an on-the-court and managerial perspective over the last few seasons, which has led them to what has been a high-drama, worrisome offseason.
However, both All-Stars still remain on Brooklyn’s roster given that trade talks have seemed to stall.
On Sunday night, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski stated that Brooklyn has “no traction” on a deal for Irving nor Durant and they are being very patient because they technically “do not have to trade either.” Wojnarowski did point out though that keeping both All-Stars is not the ideal scenario for the franchise.
The Kevin Durant sweepstakes really heated up on June 30, the start of free agency and the day that Durant informed Nets owner Joseph Tsai that he wanted to be traded.
Almost the entire league has inquired about Durant’s availability, offering up numerous trade proposals to try and land the generational talent, yet the Nets have not received any deals they have liked.
The Toronto Raptors and Phoenix Suns continue to be two of the more aggressive teams pursuing Durant, yet no deal seems imminent with either side.
As for Kyrie Irving, he has generated very little interest on the trade market with the Los Angeles Lakers really being the only team showing high interest. Still, no deal is on the table for either the Nets or Lakers pertaining to Irving.
As the offseason moves right along, free agency included, a trade involving Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving could very well come at any time. However, it is equally as likely that no deal gets made at all given the Nets price tag on both players in trade discussions.
The status of both All-Stars remains a major question mark across the NBA.