Despite rumours of a championship contender making calls for Kevin Durant, it appears the superstar is not leaving Brooklyn any time soon.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith claimed on Tuesday that Durant was on the “verge” of leaving and that Boston were sniffing around, but according to Adrian Wojnarowski, the 34-year-old’s departure isn’t a sure thing.
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Wojnarowski reported Durant and the Nets are having “ongoing conversations” as to where the franchise is headed given Brooklyn had just traded away Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks.
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ALL TRADE ROADS LEAD THROUGH RAPTORS?
Although plenty of eyes will be trained on what the Brooklyn Nets do between now and the trade deadline, many fans will be keeping tabs on what happens with the Toronto Raptors.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer, the Raptors’ O.G. Anunoby, Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent remain “buzzy names on the trade market” as the deadline nears.
Anunoby, who signed a four-year, $AUD103m extension with the Raptors in 2020, has been linked to several teams including the Lakers, Suns, Grizzlies and the Nets to name four.
But Fischer claims that teams across the league will cast their eyes towards moving for Durant in the off-season, meaning decreased interest in Anunoby.
However, VanVleet looms as a more realistic candidate for a trade as Fischer claims he is “expected to decline” the $31m option in his contract for next season in pursuit of a pay rise.
The Clippers and Suns have been constantly linked with a move for VanVleet, with the Lakers, Magic and Timberwolves also now in the mix.
MAVS PREPARE KYRIE FALLBACK PLAN
The Mavericks may have made a major splash by landing Kyrie Irving, but there’s no guarantee he is still with the franchise next season.
It appears Dallas is preparing for the worst-case scenario, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, as they look to do some “financial manouevering” that would create a maximum-salary space to use in free agency.
MacMahon reports that this could be done through trading away Tim Hardaway Jr, who is owed $48m across the two years left on his deal, as the team shops him around the league.
Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer also claims that JaVale McGee, who signed a three-year deal to join the Mavs in the off-season, is also up for grabs.
