Woj: Nets Want 'Kevin Durant to Stay Committed'; Eye Help After Kyrie Irving Trade

Kevin Durant has seen two superstars depart Brooklyn in a calendar year. He tried to push himself out last summer.

That said, it appears the Nets have no interest in trading their All-Star forward before Thursday's deadline.

"Now for Brooklyn, they want to get back to work," ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said Sunday. "They've got the three picks they got in this trade, they have a future Philadelphia first-round pick and they'll be aggressive with those picks to go out between now and Thursday's trade deadline to try to get more help around Kevin Durant.

"Quite honestly, this is an organization that wants Kevin Durant to stay committed to stay the course with this reshaping of this roster. They're going to continue between now and Thursday to do that."

The idea of Durant remaining committed to the Nets beyond the remainder of this season seems unlikely at best. At this time a year ago, he was teammates with a pair of All-Star guards in James Harden and Kyrie Irving. While flawed, the Nets had the NBA's best Big Three by a significant margin and seemed destined to be a perennial title contender.

Irving's outright refusal to undergo COVID-19 vaccination amid New York City's coronavirus rules and Harden's frustration in Brooklyn mounting when Durant went down with a knee injury blew things up midway through last season. Harden forced his way to Philadelphia, leaving the Nets with a version of Ben Simmons incapable of playing basketball and a disenchanted Durant who tried to exit over the summer.

Just when things seemingly reached a point of harmony after Irving returned after being suspended for failing to disavow antisemitism and the firing of coach Steve Nash to start this season, Irving again decided to blow things up by forcing a trade before the deadline.

There's no possible way Durant, who was already unhappy in Brooklyn, is thrilled about the idea of playing out the remainder of his prime with Simmons, Spencer Dinwiddie and Nic Claxton as his three best co-stars. Brooklyn carries some power here with the 34-year-old under contract through 2025-26, but it would be hard to blame KD for being incensed over what's transpired during his tenure with the franchise.