There is a perception around the league that Kevin Durant could request a trade from the Brooklyn Nets after the season. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN stated on February 3rd that server teams would be paying attention to Kevin Durant’s actions after Kyrie Irving’s second trade request.
The timeline behind a second potential Kevin Durant trade request
Teams are interested in Durant’s next move because of how he reacted after Irving’s first trade request. Irving requested a trade after last season as the Nets refused to give Irving a long-term contract because of his inability to show up to work for every game.Before this season, Irving had missed 66 percent of the Nets’ regular-season games during his time with the team because of injuries and off-the-court issues.
Kyrie Irving’s injury
He only played in 24 games during his first season with the team due to a right shoulder impingement. Irving stated that he began to experience pain in the right shoulder at the end of training camp due to overusing the body part. Despite the pain, Irving decided to play the first three weeks of the 2019-20 season, which caused the injury to get worse.
After a November 4th, 2019, game, Irving was forced to miss multiple months of action because the shoulder wouldn’t allow him to perform routine basketball movements. Irving stated he had difficulty elevating his shoulder during shooting drills at the team’s practice facility. Irving would only play four more games for the rest of the season due to the injury. Injuries have not been the only reason Irving has missed time as a member of the Nets.
COVID 19
Before the start of last season, Irving stated that he was not getting the Covid vaccine because he believed it was his body’s best course of action. Unfortunately, New York required home athletes to have one dose of the vaccine to perform in the state at the time.
Consequently, the team had a decision to make, accept him as a part-time player or sit him until the rule changed. At first, the organization chose option two because they wanted every eligible player to be a full participant for each game. Brooklyn’s decision led Irving to miss the first forty games of the season.
Irving’s decision-making throughout his time with the team has led the organization to offer him a short-term extension because they have questions about his reliability going forward. On the other hand, Irving wants the team to disregard his track record and give him a long-term extension.
Irving’s first threat to leave the franchise has strained the relationship between Kevin Durant and the organization. Kevin Durant reportedly believes that the front office didn’t take the time to understand Irving better.
Irving’s impact on Durant’s relationship with the team
The relationship deteriorated to the point where Kevin Durant requested a trade shortly after Irving. Kevin Duran told Brooklyn Nets Governor Joe Tsai that he didn’t have faith in the team’s direction because of GM Sean Marks and former head coach Steve Nash.
Although Brooklyn decided to keep Kevin Durant for this season, the team has continued to deteriorate their relationship with the superstar by condemning Irving’s off the court actions once again. The Nets suspended Irving for eight games after he tweeted a link to an anti-semitic documentary.
Despite Irving’s off-the-court actions, he reportedly wanted a 4-year, $200 million extension from the team last week. The team said no to his asking price leading to a second trade request. Irving’s trade request has the entire league paying attention to Durant’s next move.
If Durant concludes that his time in Brooklyn is up, his trade market will be robust because he can play on and off the ball. Durant has done most of his on-ball damage in isolation. He has spent 16.1 percent of his possessions in the play type averaging 3.9 per game.
He has shot 47.4 percent on 3.1 attempts per game. Durant has averaged 4.2 points per game since 2015, 15.4 percent of his scoring output. Durant also has the skills to thrive off the ball, making 41.2 percent of his catch and shoots on 2.9 attempts per game. Catch and shoots have accounted for 51.8 percent of the attempts, as he shot 38.9 percent from behind the arc on 5.6 attempts per game.
Durant’s injury history
Although Kevin Durant can thrive in any system, the idea of trading for him is better than the reality. Durant has been sidelined for 39.3 percent of his regular-season outings (271 games) since the 2014-15 season due to various injuries. For example, he missed 19 straight games during the 2016-17 season with a grade 2 MCL in his left knee.
The injury occurred when Zaza Pachulia fell on his leg after Marcin Gortat yanked him down by the arm.Durant’s injury history puts rival teams in a difficult position, as Brooklyn was asking for a big trade package in a potential deal. According to Shams Charania, the Phoenix Suns discussed the inclusion of Mikal Bridges and multiple picks in a potential Durant trade last year.
Potential trade value
Unfortunately for rival teams, the asking price for Durant has gone up because of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Minnesota traded four first-round picks and a pick swap for a lesser player in, Rudy Gobert. Therefore, four first-round picks are likely the starting point in any trade negotiations for Durant.
The hypothetical asking price would put Phoenix in a bad position as they cannot trade first-round picks two years in a row due to the Stepien rule. Consequently, Brooklyn would impact Phoenix’s ability to draft rookies for 8 years, depending on when the Nets want those picks to convey.
The Chris Paul factor
Unfortunately, the Suns would need as many picks as possible to mitigate the injury-prone nature of the team’s hypothetical core. Suns point guard Chris Paul has missed 19.2 percent of his regular-season outings ( 136 games) since the 2014-15 season due to various injuries.
For example, Paul left in the second quarter of a road game against Philadelphia on November 7th, 2022, with right heel soreness. The injury sidelined him for 14 straight games. Paul’s injury history opens the door to a scenario where he and Durant are sidelined with injuries at the same time.
In this scenario, Devin Booker would be the only star available to play games. The team has struggled to win when Booker is the only star available. Phoenix only won 53 total games in the two seasons before the Paul trade. Despite Durant’s on-court exploits, his injury history makes the idea of trading for him much better than reality.
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