07-12-2022, 01:40 PM
Stein:
Quote:Several front office executives and player agents assembled here, when they have managed to duck the Twitter paparazzi hovering in the stands and hoping to document in-progress trade talks, attribute the gridlock in large part to the Brooklyn Nets' slow-moving search to find a potential trade destination for Kevin Durant.
The annual fierce competition for limited roster spots after the first wave of free agents lands, with the league's influx of 50-plus rookies every summer tightening things further, is another factor. Most notably ensnared in the wait for some renewed movement are restricted free agents Deandre Ayton and Collin Sexton, who were greeted by a limited number of teams with salary-cap space when free agency began June 30 and now see cap-space teams like San Antonio and Indiana weighing the prospect of holding onto their spending money in case they can jump into a broader Durant deal.
Whispers have increasingly circulated in recent days that Brooklyn, in response to an underwhelming array of Durant offers to date, is prepared to hang on to the superstar forward in hopes that Durant's desire to leave could soften between now and the start of training camp in late September. How much stomach Nets officials have to uphold that position — or if it proves to be a mere negotiating ploy — is a matter of debate.
Don't forget that the Nets are also trying to trade Kyrie Irving and still appear to have a market of exactly one purple-and-gold-clad team in Los Angeles interested in taking Irving on.