Kevin Durant is reportedly set to meet with Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai this week, with his future in Brooklyn still up in the air.
Durant requested a trade away from Brooklyn on June 30, despite having four years left on his contract, and since then there has been little movement on a potential deal for the 12-time All-Star.
“What I’m hearing is that KD will be meeting with the owner this week,” said a league manager, Heavy Sports’ Steve Bulpett.
Sometime this week he will go straight to owner Tsai. We’ll see how that works.
MORE: What a team must offer to land Durant in a trade
The Nets have held trade talks, with the Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat all said to be in the mix to make a bid for Durant, but so far the Nets have not been moved by any of the packages presented.
Recently, reports of a potential deal with the Celtics have gained traction, with Boston reportedly offering a package featuring Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and a first-round pick, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
According to Charania, the Nets reportedly countered every deal involving the Celtics to bring in Brown, Marcus Smart, draft picks and another rotation player.
MORE: Tatum skeptical of Brown over Durant trade rumours
Durant, who is owed $190 million over the next four years, will turn 34 before next season and has been recovering from a serious injury streak. However, he remains one of the best players in the league, confirming Brooklyn’s hefty price tag.
“Brooklyn wants a lot,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski recently told Sportscenter.
They don’t just want a young star player. They want all of your tips. They want more. They want a trading package that is up there in terms of assets that we have seen in this modern era.
“That’s why there’s no deal at the moment because the teams aren’t bidding against themselves at the moment. So far, teams aren’t ready to just sort out their rosters for Kevin Durant because obviously, as much as they want Durant, they want to believe them they could still win a championship and there would still be enough left after one trade to acquire him.”
From the looks of it, the Nets are set to bring back the bulk of their roster for next season, with Ben Simmons expected to return to the court after a long layoff, while Kyrie Irving opted for his $37m player option for 2022-23 Has.
MORE: Nets demand price in every Kevin Durant trade
With training camp set to open around September 26, the Nets risk the trade saga stretching into preseason if a resolution isn’t found in the coming weeks.
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Kevin Durant contract details
In 2019, Durant signed a four-year, $164 million deal with the Nets. He then signed a $198 million four-year extension ahead of the 2021-22 season that does not include a team or player option.
That means Durant is under contract through the 2025-26 season.
2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | |
Kevin Durant | $44.1M | $47.6M | $51.2M | $54.7M | UFA |