Here’s a new idea for Shawn Marks, the Brooklyn Nets’ general manager, as he navigates Kevin Durant’s demand that the superstar be traded to some very specific teams: Damn player power.
Say it nicer than that, of course. Use charm and professionalism in communicating with Durant’s business manager, Rich Kleiman, that they can all work together to find an amicable deal. Sing kumbaya together. Pretend the world is puppies and rainbows if you must. It’s leaking, as it already has, that Marks and the Nets intend to work with Durant as they try to find the right return for Brooklyn.
Say what you must. The real task, though, is resisting the temptation to care even a little that Durant yearns to play next for this team or that team, the Heat or the Suns or whatever group of contending teams catches his wayward eye. Durant was part of the Nets’ power structure and partner in trying to navigate the choppy waters of Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Ben Simmons and a disappointing year.
Now he’s an asset, an all-time great with four years — four! — left under contract. He’s actually arguably the most valuable player ever on the trade market given those years, who reportedly went all the way around Marks, straight to Nets owner Joe Tsai, to demand a move. Allegedly not communicating with the Nets front office all week.
He wants to play hard ball?
No problem, Kevin. Here’s some difficulty for you:
· The Heat, one of the teams on his “wish list,” can’t trade Bam Adebayo to the Nets while Ben Simmons is on Brooklyn’s roster because neither team can carry two players on the designated rookie extension. And no Bam should equal no deal. That’s tough, and moving Simmons right now would be even more daunting than, say, the Lakers moving on from Westbrook. Also, the Bam/Tyler Hero/Duncan Robinson/ choices aren’t enough, even if they were possible.
· Potential offers from the Suns — the other team on the “wish list” — also add up to an equally unattractive return for a player of Durant’s caliber with so many years left on his contract. First, signing and trading DeAndre Ayton would make it difficult for the Nets. Second, even Ayton, Cam Johnson, Mikal Bridges and draft picks that may have little value indicate that a team the age of Durant-Booker-CP3 likely won’t cough up lottery picks, even in years.
Seriously. Why on earth would you want, basically, last year’s Phoenix Suns, but with Simmons replaced by Devin Booker and Chris Paul.
No thanks. You.
There are several things going on here at once, and they all point, for the Nets, to the need to fend off a player-empowerment movement that has morphed into a star-player-have-all-power movement.
First, Durant, who has an injury history and will turn 34 in September, has those four years left on his deal. There’s not a shred of chance if KD had torn his MCL, or been seriously injured in some other way, or just regressed in terms of power, that he would have woken up one morning in Brooklyn and agreed to give some of that money back. It’s a contract. It’s a deal. From him he received security in case of bad luck or sudden old age. The Nets should keep what they got — Durant for four more years or the right return to match Kevin Durant’s value for those four more years.
Second, the Nets, under Marks, traded away a group of young talent, bringing together Irving, Durant and Harden, and then, when they caved to Harden’s demands, Ben Simmons. This list includes: Jarrett Culver, Caris LaVert, Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAngelo Russell and DeMarre Carroll. This young team once made the playoffs and looked interesting enough to be one star away from real competition. They also boasted a strong ceiling culture.
So here’s Sean Marks, having staked everything on Durant and Irving, now facing his superstar — as many do these days — demanding an exit and concrete definitions.
Which brings us to the third reality: GMs are expected to act in their team’s best interest, but they’re also, of course, acting in their own. Deep down, Marks can’t wish to trade picks and young players he might not get to see if he doesn’t survive the post-Kyrie and Durant wreckage.
KD played hard, not caring an ounce about the future of the Nets or Marks’ career. A fine. Everyone is an adult here. But why on earth would Marks do something that was outside of his and his team’s best interests?
For years, Marks has been the leader of a team that has gone from severely limited, to promising and young, to presumptive contender, to, with Durant’s change of heart, a potential dumpster fire.
So there’s only one word Marks has to offer on this latest request from Durant’s wish list: No.
With the expectation that Durant might go that route, I had conversations with NBA sources this week about the idea of refusing to accede to a star’s request to leave. They were met with a range of responses. Incredulity. Reminders that stars can just shut it down, and in Simmons, the Nets have a front-row example. The devastating impact of a star who plays but doesn’t try.
All valid points.
But the Nets don’t care about Durant’s wishes. Meet his difficulty with their own. Do you want to sit down? A fine. Wait for the next four years. Want to play somewhere else? We will see. Go find us a deal we want, not some leader (again) that suits your purely personal needs. Want a ring elsewhere? Yes, we’ve seen this story from you before. Just understand that we are after our own ring and we will not move you without the necessary parts to make it possible.
Talk to the Grizzlies about whether they would part with some of their young stars not named Ja Morant and a whole bunch of picks. See if, say, the Atlanta Hawks would trade Trae Young and a first-round pick for Durant. Call Houston for all these picks. Point out — and, yes, sure, it could be pushing it — that irony aside, it turns out that two of the most compelling packages could actually come from the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors. See if the Boston Celtics want to trade KD for Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown (and, in Brown’s case, then some).
Explore every crazy idea. Because trading KD for less than what the Nets need is crazier, more disruptive, and more likely to end badly, just like it did when they caved to Harden’s same demand.
Durant has already gone to the mats with his GM. Then it is time for Marx to remember that it is not personal. This is strictly business.
And the Brooklyn Nets are in the Brooklyn Nets business, not Kevin Durant’s dreams for the next team.
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