Kevin Durant requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets this week, and there are reportedly two primary reasons he wants a change of scenery.
People close to Durant told Sports Illustrated’s Howard Beck that the two-time NBA Finals MVP was unhappy following a tumultuous season that ended with a playoff sweep. Durant also reportedly disapproves of the way the Nets have handled the Kyrie Irving situation. As Beck described it, Durant is “unhappy that his friend is unhappy.”
Durant is said to view the situation in Brooklyn as beyond saving. He understands that Irving played a role in the Nets underachieving, but he feels the team handled its issues with Irving in a way that they should have known “was going to drive Kevin away.”
For further evidence that Durant is pointing the finger at the team and not Irving, Beck was told by NBA insiders that K.D. still wants to play with Kyrie.
None of that makes Durant sound all that reasonable. You can understand why he feels the Nets are going nowhere, but it seems like he is blaming the team for not giving into Irving. This is the same Irving who disappeared on the Nets for personal reasons two seasons ago.
In a perfect world, the Nets would probably try to keep Durant and get rid of Irving. They may now be forced to blow their whole roster up, and one report says they are considering a drastic move to help them start over.
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