Aloha,
Could the KD saga be coming to an end? And if so how does effect the Kyrie situation?
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (h/t RealGM) said the following about the state of Durant trade talks and where they currently stand:
“As for Kevin Durant, here’s what there is: nothing. There is no movement here. The executives are leaving Summer League. The executives are going on vacation. At this point, the Nets’ preferred situation is for Kevin Durant to stay with them. There is no trade they’ve got that they like.
“A huge question and what the league is in some ways waiting for is what does Durant feel? He’s the one who asked for the trade. Have his feelings changed with some of the avenues for trades dimming?”
Who really wants that contract and an oft injured 34 year old KD?
I think plenty of teams are interested, just not for the price. I’ll test drive a Lambo but when that paper is put in front of me to sign I’ll walk right back out to my Honda Civic and take that home pleased as pie.
Honestly, KD’s saga is making him look like a green snake in green grass. At the end of his career, he will be remembered for all the bridges burned. From OKC to the Warriors, to the Nets. Where next?
I mean the dude is a 1st ballot HOFer and one of the best shooters of all time. He won’t be the first or last athelte to over-estimate his value or worth. He at least got paid, poor Dennis Schroder (and more importantly poor Lakers for not capitalizing ona desperate situation there…)
KD’s ego’s probably bruised right now. He’s probably shocked at the lack of teams wildly scrambling to sign a fickle prima donna player who is the best scorer in the league right now but who’s averaged just 30 games the last three seasons and is now 34-years old and a year off a terrible injury.
It’s like the league is in the process of rebuilding and rising teams aren’t going to trade exciting futures for an ethereal shot a championship and fading teams don’t have the trading chips to pull off a KD deal. Or a LeBron deal.
I would agree. I think he thought he was going to be the talk of free agency, that teams would be blowing their rosters up for a shot to get him and he’d have his pick of the litter. Turns out the NBA has a crop of young world-beaters and GMs are seeing what it means to have loyal players who buy in to what you’re doing now vs. some of the guys who came up in the mid-aughts to now.
The changes in enhancing competition are also a big factor. Everyone has a shot and the way New York and Atlanta made big waves in the playoffs means you’re often just a tweak or two away. Cost-controlled players are a huge thing, more like MLB where you fight tooth and nail in arbitration because you know at some point that protective shield will go away and you’ll be forking over the GDP of a small country to keep a single player.
I think they hold onto Kyrie if KD stays. 🙂