Another round of Kevin Durant trade rumors, another period of much ado about nothing for the Nets and the Boston Celtics — the latter of whom simply cannot escape KD chatter whenever it flares up.
Durant was thought to be a potential trade candidate after Kyrie Irving’s demand to be moved was met with a Mavericks deal, but the New York Post’s Brian Lewis has now reported that the 13x All-Star will be staying put.
Lewis revealed that while Nets GM Sean Marks is fielding plenty of calls for the 34-year-old generational talent, one Western Conference general manager told him there is no plans for Brooklyn to follow through with any such blockbuster:
"“With the deadline looming at 3 p.m. Thursday, one Western Conference general manager told The Post the Nets are still signaling to teams they have no intention of dealing Durant by then. That remains the case despite recent speculation otherwise. Brooklyn has told Durant the same.”"
The Kevin Durant to Boston Celtics rumors must die
There will likely be another point in time where Durant will be due to hit the trade market, and when that happens, the Boston Celtics will inevitably be linked in rumors to land him at the expense of Jaylen Brown. This exact situation could happen this summer.
When it does, the wise thing for the media to do would be to find a rising contender that is good but far enough away from the Larry O’Brien trophy to gamble on a talent like Durant. That way they can be somewhat close to right when projecting KD’s next chapter. Boston is already on the cusp of Banner 18, so they don’t need such a shakeup — especially when Brown will likely surpass Durant in the coming years due to the latter’s aging and the former moving deeper into his prime.
Keep an eye on Brad Stevens this trade deadline, but don’t look out for a Durant deal. There are existing problems in need of fixing that don’t involve bringing on a player who wasn’t even happy enough winning three straight west titles from 2017-2019 to re-sign with those Warriors.