“He’s like, ‘Yeah, Imma be there in, like, a couple of weeks, we fittin' to lose’” - Kevin Durant’s former teammate says KD knew the Brooklyn Nets were gonna lose to the Boston Celtics in the playoffs
Kevin Durant's Brooklyn Nets were the only team to get swept in the 2022 playoffs.
The Celtics took the Nets by storm, putting their foot down every single game to put Brooklyn away in four straight meetings.
In a recent interview on "The Players' Choice" podcast, Mike James, Durant's former teammate, talked about his relationship with Durant:
"Kev was one of the reasons, like, one of the people, that vouched for me to come to Brooklyn, to like, for Brooklyn to sign me, so when I got signed and we was going on the road, we just like a lot of the same stuff, so we ended up just hanging out with each other every time on the road."
"[Kevin Durant] called me before the playoffs start, he's like, 'Yeah, I'm gonna be there [at your playoff game] in like a couple weeks. We fitting to lose.'" 🤯
— Mike James
(via @PlayersChoice_, h/t @blbuckets3)
https://t.co/f6wQY4wzHF
James also said Durant foretold Brooklyn's defeat:
"I called him one day and was like ... 'You gonna come to my playoff game?' and he said, 'It's no way I'm coming to your playoff game,' and then a week later he called me before the playoffs start, he was like, 'Yeah, Imma be there in, like, a couple of weeks, we fittin' to lose."
Trade speculations around Kevin Durant
For better or for worse, Kevin Durant is likely to leave the Brooklyn Nets in the coming months, possibly after the season begins, if not before.
While rumors suggest nothing robust, an exciting exercise is to hypothetically carry out trades, using either the ESPN Trade Machine or, better yet, Fanspo's Trade Machine.
So, what could a package for Durant look like?
The Phoenix Suns are mentioned often in the Durant sweepstakes. Even though they cannot trade Deandre Ayton, Ayton wasn't necessarily a piece Brooklyn wanted anyway. Ayton is out, and so is Booker due to CBA's clause in acquiring players on designated rookie contracts through a trade.
One successful trade involving Phoenix looks like this:
Suns Recieve:
-Kevin Durant
Nets Recieve:
-Mikal Bridges
-Jae Crowder
-Dario Saric
-Cameron Johnson
-Picks: 2023 - Round 1, 2023 - Round 2, 2025 - Round 1, 2027 - Round 1, 2028 - Round 2, 2029 - Round 1.
On the Miami Heat front, they cannot trade Bam Adebayo because of the CBA clause. However, a very ambitious Heat trade could look like this:
Heat recieve:
-Kevin Durant
Nets Recieve:
-Jimmy Butler
-Gabe Vincent
-Max Strus
-Picks: 2027 - Round 1, 2023 - Round 1, 2029 - Round 1, 2029 - Round 2
Heat fans may scoff at trading Butler, but trading Lowry just might not be enough.
The Nets can't acquire Bam Adebayo if they keep Ben Simmons. They can't have two Designated Rookie guys acquired via trade.
So, who do the Heat offer up to the Nets? Remember, you have to match $44M in salary!