It’s been two weeks since Kevin Durant requested a trade from the Nets, and the two-time NBA Finals MVP is still a member of Brooklyn. According to one NBA legend, it’s likely to remain that way.
Hall of Famer Jerry West spoke on the matter to Sirius XM, and said he did not expect the Nets to actually pull off a trade of Durant, calling the 33-year-old one of the game’s all-time greats.
“He’s a serious basketball player. This guy does not neglect his craft,” West said of Durant. “I think sometimes when people poke and prod with him … people misread him, who he is as a person. This is one of the greatest players we’ve ever seen. For him to want out, I can see why. I can see why. Wherever he goes, to my best guess he’s not going to get traded. You can’t give enough to get a guy like him.”
West’s comments come days after NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed Durant’s trade request, saying that while he and league higher-ups understand how the business of player movement works, “we don’t like to see players requesting trades.”
“I think it is something where there is mutuality of interests between the players collectively and the league, having more stability,” Silver said. “So that’s something we’ll be discussing with the union.”
West pointed to Utah’s trade of Rudy Gobert—and the amount of assets Minnesota had to send to the Jazz to get him—as evidence that the asking price for a hypothetical Durant trade would be too much for any team to pull off.
“I see Utah makes a trade with Minnesota, I said ‘Oh my gosh,’” West said. “The assets they got for a terrific defensive player, what would Kevin Durant command? He’s one of the greatest players to ever play the game. Period.”
