NBA Rumors: Interested teams unwilling to meet Brooklyn Nets' demands for Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant's request to be traded out of the Brooklyn Nets has now reached a possible stalemate. Recent reports have indicated that the Nets may start the upcoming season without him.
The vast majority of the teams that achieved playoff success last season were young. Those promising players are looking to take their franchises to the next level.
The Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies are all teams with enough young talent to trade for Kevin Durant. However, his reputation as someone who might not stick around very long is a clear deal-breaker in most cases.
Brian Windhorst, on ESPN's "Get Up," spoke about Durant's market value and why the Nets may have misvalued Durant:
"The price tag for Durant may not be as high as the Nets wanted, and if the price tag maybe slips a little bit, which is maybe what we're looking at the end of this, what is now turning into a stalemate.
"Some teams that were just sort of casual bystanders in the first-round maybe like 'Wait a minute, maybe we should get in on this bidding,' and I think, in fairness you have to put the Warriors on that list."
The Nets put out their season ticket promotions, in which Kyrie Irving was notably absent unlike Kevin Durant.
The Brooklyn Nets season ticket promo features Kevin Durant but no Kyrie Irving 👀 https://t.co/vHYAvGXGUj
Why would the Warriors trade for Kevin Durant?
A Warriors trade is highly unlikely at this point.
Legacy talk notwithstanding, the Warriors will be taking on an unnecessary burden in terms of a higher payroll. The Warriors will be left with another sign-and-trade situation in which they might or might not acquire promising young talent.
A trade for Kevin Durant is likely to result in the departure of both of the Warriors' top-10 picks, James Wiseman and Jonathan Kuminga. It may also result in Jordan Poole's exit from the bay.
Just to match the salary, the Warriors would have to trade away a large majority of their bench. Andrew Wiggins won't be included in the trade unless Ben Simmons is also dispatched to the bay. The Warriors would very likely reach a payroll of $400 million (salary and tax) with no security in the future.
Having just won a championship, it would make very little sense to not simply run it back.