Boston Celtics: Longtime top target could be back on trade block eventually

Per the Brooklyn Nets starting off the season in near-disastrous fashion, it’s likely that top Boston Celtics trade target Kevin Durant could be back on the market eventually — this at least according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Durant has been averaging 32 points through the first nine games of the Nets’ season, but his efforts have largely fallen to the wayside considering their 3-6 record through the season’s first few weeks.

The Nets are reportedly already trying to move Ben Simmons, who has not yet had a double-digit scoring effort during his short-lived Brooklyn tenure, and Kyrie Irving is burning bridges at an alarming rate. Durant could very conceivably be sick of wasting away his late prime years on a loser with the NY media breathing down his neck.

After a summer of linking Jaylen Brown to KD, the reintroduction of Durant to the trade market could undoubtedly spark further rumors of the Boston Celtics having interest in the 12x NBA All-Star.

The Boston Celtics must be done with Kevin Durant trade talks

If Jaylen Brown’s social media behavior is indicative of anything at all, it seems at least somewhat possible that Ime Udoka may have had something to do with No. 7’s name coming up in trade talks for Brooklyn’s No. 7. That thinking checks out when you consider Udoka’s ties to Durant from the 2020-21 season when the Nets actually won a playoff series. And a playoff game.

At this point, though, the best course of action for the Boston Celtics would be to avoid any phone calls from Sean Marks — particularly since the last time the two talked about a deal, the Nets front office had the unmitigated gall to initially ask for both Brown and Jayson Tatum.

With Udoka imminently set to coach the Nets following Steve Nash’s departure — though admittedly talk has been quiet on that front since the news initially broke — one must figure he and the Celtics might not be on the best of terms.

Durant could request a trade, but it’s unlikely that the Cs would be sucked into a bidding war again based on what we’ve seen when the Nets join them at the negotiating table.