Report: Kevin Durant delivers ultimatum to Nets, increases trade request pressure

Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant met with team ownership about his pending trade request and doubled down on his desire to be traded. According to a Monday report, Durant recently informed team owner Joe Tsai that he needed to choose between keeping Durant on the team or keeping his staff in place.

Kevin Durant applies strong pressure to trade request

“In a meeting with Nets owner Joe Tsai, Kevin Durant reiterated his trade request and informed Tsai that Tsai needs to choose between Durant or the pairing of general manager Sean Marks and coach Steve Nash,” detailed The Athletic‘s Shams Charania.

It hasn’t been long since the Nets and their fans believed an NBA championship was in reach after pairing former Texas and Duke stars, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Then, the 2021 season saw Irving miss most of the season due to his unvaccinated status and an overall disappointing finish to the year after being swept in the first round of the playoffs.

The drama continued directly into the offseason as it was unclear what the future of Irving was with the team — until Irving made the decision to opt-in for the final year of his contract and stay with the Nets. Almost immediately afterwards, Durant made his own trade request public — seemingly upset with the current team’s framework.

According to Charania’s report on Monday, Durant’s issues with the team lie with the current direction and he believes a major change is in order if he’s going to remain in Brooklyn. Durant met with Tsai in London over the weekend and their discussion was described as “transparent and professional.”

Durant is currently in a four-year, $198 million contract extension that he signed with the Nets last year, entering the first year of that extension in the 2022-23 season.