Rich Kleiman, Durant’s business manager, says that the NBA star has sought a trade from the Brooklyn Nets. A deal for Kevin Durant and Jason Kleiman is being worked out by Nets general manager Sean Marks, reports ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski.
It’s widely known that Durant prefers a move to either the Phoenix Suns or Miami Heat, but there’s no lack of clubs eager to get their hands on the NBA star. A no-trade provision does not exist in Durant’s deal, which means the Nets may transfer him to whatever club offers them the most money in return for him.
The announcement comes following reports that both Durant and Kyrie Irving’s futures at Brooklyn were in jeopardy. Even before Irving’s decision to leave the Nets was made public earlier this week, there were whispers that Durant might do the same if the franchise did not give him a long-term contract.
Nets’ superstar squad falling to pieces
In spite of this, Irving just exercised his $37 million player option for the next season, which suggests that both he and Durant will stay with the Nets until at least the 2022-23 season. However, Wojnarowski claims that neither Irving nor Durant had any communication with the Nets front office after Irving opted into his player option, implying that Durant would ultimately want a trade.
Since Durant signed a four-year, $198 million deal extension last summer, it’s going to take a large offer from other clubs to lure him away from the Golden State Warriors. Every club will be phoning the Nets to see what they can do for Kevin Durant now that free agency has begun.
