This offseason has been progressing at a snail’s pace following an initial flurry of free agent signings, but one of the primary developments this offseason has been the trade market for Kevin Durant, who submitted a request to be located right before the start of free agency. The Boston Celtics, originally seen as a team with no good reason to butcher its core to land KD, are now seen as the 33-year-old’s ‘desired landing spot.’
It’s not hard to imagine why that’d be the case with the Philadelphia 76ers now looking like the biggest competition to Boston in the Durant sweepstakes. With a head coach in Ime Udoka who proved to be a glove fit for the job in his first season and an aggressive President of Basketball Operations in Brad Stevens that is proving to be willing and able to pull off any deal to move the needle, there are fewer places with a foundation as solid as the Celtics.
And that’s before even getting into who Durant would be playing with. Marcus Smart has been tabbed as someone he would like to play with–which makes sense considering Smart would take a lot of the tougher perimeter oriented assignments Durant would inherit–and Jayson Tatum would become his new co-star. That sounds like a massive reductions in headaches from being Kyrie Irving’s new co-star.
Luckily, the Cs have put themselves at the front of the line because of their willingness to negotiate in good faith with Sean Marks and the Brooklyn Nets front office. As of yet, the Phoenix Suns’ unwillingness to include Devin Booker and the Miami Heat’s unwillingness to include Bam Adebayo in negotiations (Ben Simmons’ presence on the roster complicates things with his designated rookie status ) have kept those franchises out of the mix.
As CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn points out, though, the Boston Celtics’ willingness to include Jaylen Brown puts them in the driver’s seat in negotiations — particularly if Durant continues to badger Brooklyn for a trade this offseason:
"“That is quite a bit of ground for the two sides to make up in negotiations, but the Celtics are the only team to have thus far put a young star on the table. That puts them in the driver’s seat here. That is especially true if Durant continues to pressure the Nets to make a trade. He reportedly told team owner Joe Tsai to fire head coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks in a meeting over the weekend.”"
The Boston Celtics must draw a line in the sand in Kevin Durant trade talks
With this “in the driver’s seat” status the Boston Celtics are in, there are potential pitfalls to be had if Brad Stevens gets overzealous and overplays his hands in trade talks with the Brooklyn Nets for one of the game’s all-time greats.
Drawing a line in the sand and letting Sean Marks and co. know that Marcus Smart and Robert Williams, and I guess since we have to say it, Jayson Tatum, are all off the table. Then, and only then, can the Cs and Nets swap Durant and Jaylen Brown and we can finally move on from this summer’s trade saga once and for all.