Why The Nets Might Have To Trade Kevin Durant If Kyrie Leaves

Kevin Durant has learned the hard way that super teams do not always win. After putting together the scond greatest super team in our generation (only behind KD’s own Warriors), the Nets are now in limbo as Kyrie Irving enters free agency.

Word is the Nets are at an impasse and don’t know if they are going to offer Kyrie or not. According to NBA experts, if the Nets don’t offer Kyrie then Durant may seek greener pastures elsewhere.

Here are the thoughts on KD leaving Brooklyn if Kyrie leaves:

Kyrie Irving’s search for leverage on his contract discussions with the Brooklyn Nets won’t be found with the threat of a $30 million pay cut to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers, but the sum of the franchise’s deepest fears: Irving walks, and Kevin Durant wants a trade.

For everything owner Joe Tsai and general manager Sean Marks did to assemble one of the modern NBA’s most talented Big 3s, Irving’s impenetrable connection to Durant looms as a domino to the dismantling of the roster. Brooklyn is straddling the narrowest of walkways: Keeping conviction on Irving’s contract talks and keeping Durant’s desire to stay a Net.

The organization clearly wants Irving on a shorter deal, whether it’s his $36 million opt-in for the 2022-23 season — or perhaps an opt-out and new deal that could give him a raise to $42 million annually on a two-year deal.

In previous offseasons, rival agents and players would tell you of Durant’s eagerness in talking to potential free agents. So far, that hasn’t been the case with him, sources say. Outside of Irving, the Nets’ most important free agent is guard Patty Mills, who still hasn’t decided whether to exercise his $7.2 million player option. Around the Irving drama, the Nets’ environment has made it harder to keep and court role players, sources say.