Kevin Durant Is Staying Put... For Now

The Brooklyn Nets set NBA Twitter on fire when it put out the following statement on the morning of Tuesday, August 23rd. 

“THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT HAS BEEN RELEASED BY GENERAL MANAGER SEAN MARKS: Steve Nash and I, together with Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai, met with Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman in Los Angeles yesterday. We have agreed to move forward with our partnership. We are focusing on basketball, with one collective goal in mind: build a lasting franchise to bring a championship to Brooklyn.”

When the Utah Jazz got a return of four unprotected future first round picks from the Minnesota Timberwolves in addition to a pick swap, No. 22 overall pick in the 2022 Draft Walker Kessler, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley and Leandro Bolmaro in exchange for Rudy Gobert earlier this summer, the asking price on KD became astronomical. 

Seven first round picks? Eight? Nine? 

Following suit with many of his peers, Durant publicly demanded a trade back in late June and provided a short list of teams he’d prefer to end up with. However, after exploring their options, the Nets’ front office decided to stand firm and not cave to appease their disgruntled superstar.

Seemingly cursed ever since they decided to mortgage their future for an aging Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, the Nets have been the most disappointing team in the league year after year in recent memory. New ownership groups and front offices, new coaching staffs and roster turnovers have made creating any semblance of stability impossible. 

Until now. Brooklyn’s unwillingness to listen to Durant’s demand and KD’s unwillingness to dishonor his contract will make this marriage continue, even if it isn’t guaranteed to (and might not) last at the end of the day. 

Nonetheless, with additional deals unlikely to be made, it looks like this Brooklyn team is going to be stacked (on paper).

Alongside Durant, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons should make up a “big three”. 

Seth Curry, Joe Harris and Patty Mills will provide sharpshooting. 

Nicolas Claxton should continue to develop as a promising young big and veterans T.J. Warren and Royce O’Neale will be important parts of the rotation. Cam Thomas, Day’Ron Sharpe, Kessler Edwards, Edmond Sumner and Alondes Williams will round out the rest of the 14-man roster.

BetMGM is giving the Nets +350 odds to win the 2022-2023 Eastern Conference (3rd-shortest behind the Celtics and Bucks) and +700 odds to win the 2023 NBA Finals (T4th-shortest behind Celtics, Warriors and Bucks, tied with Clippers). 

Back them risk-free using our exclusive offer now! You can wager up to $1,000 and get a full refund at the end of the season if they don’t win the championship! All you have to do is sign up for a new BetMGM account now!