Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant offering an ultimatum to Nets owner Joe Tsai has been the trending topic of conversation in the NBA this week. This comes weeks after Durant submitted a trade request to the franchise.
On SiriusXM NBA radio, former Boston Celtics player Brian Scalabrine spoke about how information about KD's ultimatum has been made public. Scalabrine also spoke about how general manager Sean Marks has done nothing but capitulate to KD's wishes in terms of players.
"When it comes to players, they're going to say these things, but it's not going to be public. This is like a first time, 'I don't trust those guys,' and really he has no reason not to trust them. If you think about everything that they've done, setting up Kevin Durant, they want James Harden, we go out there and we get James Harden. you don't want James Harden, we get Ben Simmons,"
"What more could those two have done given the circumstances they have had. By the way, did James Harden decide to leave because because of Sean Marks and Steve Nash or because of Kyrie Irving? The whole thing is a mess because it doesn't make sense but that's, like, the world we live in, that's player empowerment to a new level," Brian Scalabrine said.
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It was reported earlier this week that Durant's ultimatum to Joe Tsai was to essentially choose between him or general manager Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash.
While Sean Marks was already with the team before Joe Tsai took ownership of the franchise, Steve Nash was brought in as the head coach after clearances from Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Trying to make sense of Kevin Durant's ultimatum
Kevin Durant offering an ultimatum to Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai was something no one saw coming. While there were reports already of the duo meeting this week, it was believed that Durant would either rescind his trade request or double-down on his stance of wanting to leave the franchise.
The two-time Finals MVP's ultimatum could very well be a ploy to force ownership and front office hands at trading him. The Nets hold the leverage when it comes to Durant's contract and are in no hurry to trade him until they receive a satisfactory offer. A deal of this magnitude is yet to be done and there are hardly any teams queing up to offer the Nets what they precisely want.
This ultimatum could also be Durant genuinely wanting Steve Nash and Sean Marks gone. With Kyrie Irving not being offered a new contract extension this summer, a decision made by the front office led by Sean Marks could have irked Durant given his close relationship with Irving.
Either way, the saga between Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets appears to be far from over. With training camp set to commence next month, it will be interesting to see if the two-time NBA champion will force a move elsewhere.
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