Durant wants trade; Jokic gets max deal
Kevin Durant may be taking his quest for more titles elsewhere.
Durant has requested a trade from the Nets, according to a person with direct knowledge of the decision that undoubtedly will have teams scrambling to put together offers for the perennial All-Star.
The Nets have been working with Durant to find a trade partner, and he has multiple teams on his preferred list.
ESPN first reported Durant’s trade request, citing the Suns and Heat as two of his preferred destinations. The bombshell came just hours before the NBA’s free-agent period for this summer began Thursday evening.
Durant is a 12-time All-Star, four-time scoring champion, three-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time NBA champion — those rings coming with the Warriors, the team he was with before joining the Nets. He has four years and nearly $200 million remaining on his contract, which means that it may take a haul of players, draft picks or possibly both for a team to acquire him.
Durant has played 14 seasons, not including one year when he sat out while recovering from a torn Achilles. He has averaged 27.2 points in his career — over that span, only LeBron James, at 27.3 points per game, has averaged more.
And even at his age — Durant will turn 34 on Sept. 29, around the time training camps open this fall — he’s still one of the best players in the game, his 6-foot-10 frame making his jump shot almost unstoppable by any defender.
Durant has spent three seasons with the Nets, not playing in the first of those years while he recovered from the Achilles injury. He averaged 29.9 points in 55 games last season, after leading the U.S. to Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games last summer.
Unless he changes his mind and stays, his departure will be a huge blow to the Nets. At this time last year, the Nets were banking on contending for a championship with a core led by Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving.
That plan didn’t come close to reality. Irving missed much of the year because of his refusal to be vaccinated against COVID19; he was ineligible to play in home games for the majority of the season. Harden wound up getting traded to the 76ers for Ben Simmons, who didn’t play at all last season. Durant led the Nets into the playoffs, where they were swept in the first round by the eventual Eastern Conference champion Celtics.
And the offseason hasn’t exactly been calm for the Nets, either. Irving’s future was a major question mark until he decided to exercise his $37 million option earlier this week to remain with the Nets this coming season.
Nuggets give Jokic record deal: Nikola Jokic went from No. 41 draft pick, to two-time MVP, and now the holder of the largest contract in NBA history.
Jokic, 27, and the Nuggets agreed Thursday to a $264 supermax extension, according to reports.
It begins with the 2023-24 season and continues through 2027-28 — when, if Jokic exercises his option for that season, he could make roughly $60 million.
The Serbian star has had a meteoric rise in his seven NBA seasons, all with the Nuggets. He became an All-Star in his fourth season and has stayed at that level since, plus won MVP in each of the last two seasons after averaging 26.4 points in 202021 and 27.1 points last season.
Beal stays with Wizards: Bradley Beal and the Wizards agreed on a maximum fiveyear contract worth $251 million.
Beal’s deal isn’t an extension, but a separate contract since he became a free agent by opting out of a $36.4 million contract for this coming season Wednesday. He did that with the supermax deal from the Wizards clearly in mind, and the sides wasted no time making that happen.
The 29-year-old three-time All-Star averaged 23.2 points while being limited to 40 games last season because of injury.
Layup: Trail Blazers G Anfernee Simons agreed on a four-year, $100 million extension, ESPN reported. Simons, 23, averaged career-highs of 17.3 points and 29.5 minutes per game in 57 games last season.