Almost all of the talk surrounding the Boston Celtics this summer was centered around Kevin Durant. KD requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets back in June following a first round sweep at the hand of the C’s.
The Celtics certainly had the most enticing package of all the teams interested. They were able to offer Jaylen Brown as well as other pieces, including sixth man Derrick White and a future first-round draft pick, in exchange for Durant.
The situation became polarizing amongst fans when Shams Charania of the Athletic reported that the Celtics had offered Brown in a potential deal. Some wanted to bring in Durant at all costs, while others had no interest in the 12x All-Star. Brooklyn has since come out with a statement saying that Durant is not going anywhere this summer and will be suiting up for them in the fall.
Legendary Boston Globe writer Bob Ryan definitely sided with the group that had no interest in bringing in the Nets forward. On the latest episode of CLNS‘ “Bob Ryan and Jeff Goodman Podcast,” he shared that he was glad Boston didn’t make a big splash by dealing Brown for Durant this summer.
"“I don’t want to win with that s—head and I think he is one, frankly… I don’t want to win with this guy. Screw him.”"
Ryan prefaced that punchline by explaining that it feels better to root for the homegrown group. Boston made improvements to the roster after coming up short in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
Brad Stevens went out and brought in Malcom Brogdon and Danillo Gallinari to help strengthen his team’s depth. Ryan shouted out Brogdon during his Durant rant, noting that because of the addition of the 2016-17 NBA Rookie of the Year, he loves this Boston Celtics team:
"“Now that we’ve added [Malcolm] Brogdon.. I love this team”"
One has to wonder if Brooklyn’s superstar wing is crafting his response to Ryan, who used some pretty inflammatory language towards the 33-year-old. After all, Durant is known to fire back at critics on Twitter, and he isn’t always known to take it easy on his targets.