How the Nets won the Kevin Durant staring contest — and the Lakers lost
By Yaron Weitzman and Melissa Rohlin
FOX Sports NBA Writers
If there has been one truism of the NBA's so-called player empowerment era, it's that, eventually, stars always win. Trade demands are fulfilled. Ultimatums are met. Players hold an inordinate amount of power, which over the past decade or so has proved nearly impossible to reject.
That's what made the Brooklyn Nets' announcement Tuesday so, well, remarkable. After a two-month standoff with Kevin Durant, which included a trade request followed by a demand from Durant for head coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks to be replaced if he were to stay, the Nets released a statement from Marks that all parties had "agreed to move forward with our partnership."
"We are focusing on basketball," Marks added, "with one collective goal in mind: build a lasting franchise to bring a championship to Brooklyn."
This armistice was reached after a Monday meeting in Los Angeles of all the involved power brokers: Durant, his business manager, Rich Kleiman, Marks, Nets governor Joe Tsai, Tsai’s wife, Clara Wu Tsai, and Nash.
Convincing Durant to back off his trade demand marks a major victory for Tsai, Marks and the Nets organization — one we rarely see. The Nets didn’t exactly go to war with Durant, but they did hold their ground and emerge victorious with fresh options.
Let’s take a look at who wins and loses in this apparent resolution to the Nets-Durant drama, starting with the man whose seat just got a lot cooler. — Weitzman
Winner: Sean Marks and the Nets organization
You have to give credit to Tsai for backing Marks, but, as one GM once told me, it's the GM's job to sell ownership on their plan, and clearly, Marks was able to do exactly that.
The Nets, according to sources around the league, were willing to part with Durant, but only if they received a proper return, which, in their view, was never offered.
Clearly, there was a gulf between what the Nets considered fair value for Durant and what other teams were willing to discuss. The Nets wanted a Godfather offer — and for good reason. Durant is a top-five player who instantly transforms any team he's on into a championship contender, and he also happens to be signed for another four years, thanks to the four-year, $198 million extension he signed earlier this summer, meaning he has little leverage. The Nets also believe his presence on their roster puts them among the favorites to come out of the East.
On the other hand, one could see why other teams might be hesitant to mortgage their futures for Durant. He's 33, has a ton of mileage on the odometer and has a history of major injuries that have limited his availability in recent seasons. Not to mention, there's his history of wreaking havoc within an organization.
Marks had some appealing deals. The Celtics, as has been reported elsewhere, were willing to part with Jaylen Brown. Marks probably could have gotten some sort of decent package of players not named Scottie Barnes from the Raptors. And it's hard to believe the Pelicans would have refused to part with Brandon Ingram if the Nets had made clear that a deal centered on him would work.
Any of these trades would have allowed the Nets to stay in the playoffs and given them an asset base to work with in the future, but they all would have removed the Nets from being championship contenders this year. That's something Marks was unwilling to accept. And so not only did he refuse to bow to Durant, but he also bolstered the roster around him with the additions of veteran wings TJ Warren and Royce O'Neale. Add the return of snipers Seth Curry and Joe Harris, who both should be healthy, a seemingly ready-to-play Ben Simmons and a vaccine-mandate-free Kyrie Irving, and you have one of the most loaded rosters in the league.
So Marks kept his job, reopened a window for his team to contend and bought time to potentially shop for better deals (more on that later).
The fact that Marks was able to do all this and somehow convince Durant to change his stance before any sort of training camp standoff means the Nets might now be better positioned than they've been at any point since Durant and Irving came onboard. — Weitzman
Loser: The Los Angeles Lakers
So much for a reunion between LeBron James and Irving. Durant's decision to remain with the Nets seemingly drove a stake through that possibility, at least for now.
If Irving is off the table, too, it's a hit for the Lakers, who have been looking for ways to offload Russell Westbrook and the $47.1 million he is due next season. Westbrook, a Los Angeles native, had an extremely lackluster debut season with the franchise in 2021-22, in which he struggled to fit in offensively and was often a flat-out liability on defense.
While it never seemed the Nets were enthused about potentially acquiring Westbrook, if Durant had jumped ship, there was a chance Irving could've landed with the Lakers, possibly through a deal involving multiple teams.
Irving is a wild card, to say the least. He played 29 games last season after refusing to get vaccinated, but there's no denying that he's one of the top players in the NBA when available.
A reunion between James and Irving seemed unrealistic following Irving's demand to be traded from Cleveland because he no longer wanted to play alongside James after they won a title together in 2016. But there was always something intriguing about the possibility of them reuniting in Los Angeles. James is coming off an MVP-caliber season, and Irving was nothing short of spectacular when on the court last season.
Alas, it's less likely to happen now. Irving has little incentive to go anywhere if Durant is staying put, especially considering that Durant publicly supported Irving through so much over the past few seasons, including Irving needing time off following the Jan. 6 insurrection and Irving declining to get vaccinated, even though New York laws prevented him from playing in home games.
Durant and Irving appear to be remaining in Brooklyn, leaving the Lakers with a big dilemma heading into the season: What in the world are they going to do with Westbrook? — Rohlin
Winner: Adam Silver
In the wake of Durant demanding a trade in late June, the NBA commissioner stood in front of a room filled with reporters in July in Las Vegas and reiterated his stance on superstars trying to force their team's hand.
"We don't like to see players requesting trades," Silver said.
Durant was just the latest superstar to do it, following multiple high-profile players engaging in the practice, most recently including James Harden and Ben Simmons. Both Harden and Simmons eventually got their wishes after Brooklyn and Philadelphia swapped them in a blockbuster deal in February.
But this time, it didn't work.
Durant remaining with the Nets is a win for Silver, who has spoken out on multiple occasions against superstars trying to break and bend their contractual obligations.
"This needs to be a two-way street," he said in July. "Teams provide enormous security and guarantees to players, and the expectation is, in return, they will meet their end of the bargain."
For Durant, one of the highest-profile players in the league, to decide to honor his contract makes a strong statement. Somewhere, in some office in New York, Silver is probably smiling. — Rohlin
Loser: Durant suitors
The Nets might not have received a ton of enticing offers, but you can be sure there were teams interested in Durant that were betting on a drawn-out standoff lowering the Nets' asking price.
It's fair to wonder whether the Celtics look back on their reported refusal to include Marcus Smart in a deal. Was that because they truly felt parting with Smart and Brown would be too much, or were they banking on the Nets eventually caving? Would the Heat have been more aggressive in turning Bam Adebayo (who, due to some arcane league rules, had a contract that prevented him from being on the same team as Ben Simmons) into a package that could be flipped for Durant? Maybe the Suns would have come to the table with a bigger offer.
Instead, the Nets sent a clear message to the rest of the league that they need a lot more to consider parting with Durant, should this situation arise again.
After all, things could change again at some point. Just because Durant is (sort of) committing to the Nets today doesn't mean he won't change his mind (again) down the line. And in a few months, players who signed new contracts in the offseason will be eligible to be traded, opening the door to all sorts of new possibilities.
In the meantime, though, Durant appears to be off the table, meaning teams that were banking on the addition of the superstar propelling them into contention need to reevaluate what it might take to get him next time — if there is a next time. — Weitzman
Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter at @melissarohlin.
Yaron Weitzman is an NBA writer for FOX Sports and the author of Tanking to the Top: The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports. Follow him on Twitter @YaronWeitzman.