Kevin Durant may be looking elsewhere for more titles.
Durant has requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets, according to a person with direct knowledge of the decision, which will no doubt see teams putting together bids for the perennial All-Star.
The Nets have been working with Durant to find a trading partner, and he has several teams on his preferred list, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday on condition of anonymity because neither the player nor Brooklyn have publicly released details have revealed.
ESPN first reported on Durant’s trade request, citing Phoenix and Miami as two of his preferred destinations. The bombshell fell just hours before the start of the NBA’s free-agent stint for this summer.
Durant is a 12-time All-Star, four-time scoring champion, three-time Olympic gold medalist, and two-time NBA champion—those rings come with Golden State, the team he was on before joining Brooklyn. He has four years and nearly $200 million left on the contract, meaning it could be a long time before a team picks him up, or draft picks, or both.
Durant has played 14 seasons, not missing a year while recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. He has averaged 27.2 points throughout his career – only LeBron James has averaged more in that span, averaging 27.3 points per game.
And even at his age — Durant turns 34 on Sept. 29, around the time training camps open this fall — he’s still one of the best players in the game, his 6-foot-10 frame making his jump shot almost unstoppable at any point Defender.
Durant spent three seasons with Brooklyn and did not play the first of those years while recovering from the Achilles injury. He averaged 29.9 points in 55 games last season after leading the USA to Olympic gold at the Tokyo games last summer.
Unless he changes his mind and stays, his departure will be a huge blow to the Nets. This time last year, the Nets were looking to contend for a championship with a core led by Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving.
This plan did not come close to reality. Irving missed much of the year by refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19; He was not eligible to play in home games for most of the season. Harden was eventually traded to Philadelphia for Ben Simmons, who didn’t play at all last season. Durant led Brooklyn to the playoffs, where they were swept by eventual Eastern Conference champion Boston in the first round.
And the off-season wasn’t exactly smooth for the Nets either. Irving’s future was a big question mark until earlier this week when he decided to exercise his $37 million option to stay with Brooklyn for the upcoming season.
Now Durant wants out, and the Nets must either change his mind or continue with moves that overtake their team.