Report: Kevin Durant sees Boston Celtics as desired landing spot; wants to play with Marcus Smart
More developments have arisen on what is shaping up to be a busy day in the Kevin Durant-Brooklyn Nets trade rumor saga.
Per SNY’s Ian Begley, the Brooklyn Nets star sees the Boston Celtics as a desired landing spot for a potential trade. The Celtics were rumored recently to have been in talks with the Nets about a deal that would have sent Boston star forward Jaylen Brown to Brooklyn for KD. However, a potential sticking point that supposedly arose was the Nets’ asking for Boston veteran point guard Marcus Smart as part of the deal.
But according to the SNY report, “(Durant) would like to play with Boston’s Marcus Smart if he is traded to the Celtics.”
In the wider sphere of Celtics media and Begley’s own reporting, there has been increased pessimism any deal gets done between the teams given the Nets’ sky-high asks for the aging and often difficult star forward.
Durant’s apparent ultimatum for the Nets to fire general manager Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash is not likely to endear him to the front offices of any team that might legitimately be considering a trade for him. And there has been pushback that such a trade was even on the table for Boston.
Celtics Lab 135: Diving into the seemingly endless combinations of lineups Boston could use in 2022-23 https://t.co/oYpvmfDSyl
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 10, 2022
It’s important to note that while Durant may indeed be increasingly open to new destinations after asking out and getting little traction, he has little in the way of leverage to force the situation.
And with Boston already the odds-on favorite to win the 2023 NBA title, there is little pressure for the Celtics to undertake what could be an incredibly risky and volatile future — one they already know well how it could end.
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