Where Will Kevin Durant Land?

The NBA usually has a wild off season. This year with the absence of any mega free agents the story has been who is being traded. Kevin Durant has entered that chatter with his reported trade demand from the Brooklyn Nets. If Durant leaves the Nets after 3 years, the team will fall far short of most fans and pundits’ expectations. With the team trading away James Harden for a Ben Simmons who hasn’t played and the franchise not all in on Kyrie Irving, there appears to be a mess in Brooklyn.

Now who is at fault for the situation in Brooklyn? There is enough blame to go around but Durant and him wanting the construction of this team the way he wanted is a definitely a factor. That being said the management did not have to follow through with every request. The Chicago Bulls didn’t do what Michael Jordan wanted all the time. Now here we are Durant allegedly wants out and Harden has already been traded for Ben Simmons who has his own set of issues.

Even though we are in this era of player empowerment, the Nets don’t have to trade Durant. He has 4 years left on his deal and they could tell him to play or sit and home and not get paid. Kyrie Irving has opted into his player option and the team could try to give it one more season with what they have. The organization could at least see if this all works out up until the trade deadline and then make a move.

According to the news reports Durant wants to be traded to a contender and the Nets want a reasonable haul for a man who averaged 29 points per game last season. The issue they are facing is that for what they want teams interested in him wouldn’t be much in contention if they gave up that many assets. No team wants to be left high and dry off of a bad trade. Despite how good Durant has been over the course of his career he is in year 15 and has a lot of basketball miles on him. Also, he has not been the healthiest player over the past few years. That is a lot of risk to blow up a franchise for. Either way it will be interesting to see where he lands and how that changes the landscape of the NBA.

Keith B. Holt

Follow on Twitter @Kholtjr