CAN SIXERS STEAL DURANT FROM NETS A YEAR AFTER THEY PILFERED HARDEN?!
By Tommy Matthews
It is hard to imagine a more dysfunctional NBA franchise than the Brooklyn Nets.
They have three alleged stars who either can’t play, are too anti-semitic to play or don’t want to play for them anymore,
That would be Ben Simmons, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
They traded James Harden to the Sixers last February and got Ben Simmons in. return.
Now they are spooked by the prospect of getting fleeced again.
Poor babies.
Before the season began, Durant requested a trade only to rescind the request and agree to patch things up with the team since the trade market had been blown up by Rudy Gobert and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Now, given the circumstances around Irving and his indefinite suspension, Durant probably wants out even more.
After all, things are more chaotic and disheveled in Brooklyn than they were over the summer. Head coach Steve Nash was fired and the Nets sit at 6-9.
According to an anonymous executive in the Eastern Conference that spoke to Sean Deveny of Heavy.com, the Nets aren’t excited to strike a deal with the Sixers, though they continue to inquire on the availability of Durant.
One of the factors holding them back is that they, according to the exec, feel the James Harden trade was somewhat conspired by the Sixers (Daryl Morey) and Harden.
“There is no doubt the Sixers have asked on Durant, they did in the summer, and will keep asking about him,” an Eastern Conference executive told Deveney.
“But the Nets are going to be a little put off by them already because of the Ben Simmons thing because they feel like they were set up to give away James Harden all along.
“So the Sixers burned them once, do the Nets want to go back and say, OK, sure, we’ll do a KD deal, too.
“The main thing is, though, does Tyrese Maxey get put into the deal? Because then the Nets have to listen, they might not get a better young player than him in any deal they make for Durant. Maxey, Tobias Harris, and (Matisse) Thybulle would work, but the Nets would not get any picks in the deal because Philly can’t offer any right now. If that is all that is on the table, Brooklyn would have to pass.”
