Kevin Durant set for showdown with Nets owner?

Apr 23, 2022; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant (7) looks up at the scoreboard in the third quarter against the Boston Celtics at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

There has been no change with Kevin Durant despite the former MVP asking the Brooklyn Nets at the end of June to trade him. Over a month has passed since then, and Durant remains with the Nets. Now, according to one report, Durant is set to meet with the team’s owner.

Heavy’s Steve Bulpett reported in an article published on Tuesday that Durant is set to meet with Joe Tsai at some point this week. The meeting could help provide clarity regarding the 33-year-old’s future with the team.

One of the biggest reasons why the Nets have not yet traded Durant could be due to the shifting trade market. The Minnesota Timberwolves paid so much to get Rudy Gobert that it set too high of a standard for players deemed more valuable than the center. The price a team would have to pay to get Durant is so great that it could conceivably cripple a franchise and inhibit their ability to contend.

Have the Nets intentionally set their asking price for Durant too high because they don’t want to trade him? Or have they set a reasonable asking price in light of what Gobert fetched, and no team has met that asking price?

Those could be questions Durant wants answered.

Durant has four seasons left on his existing contract. The Nets may be trying to stall because they really want to keep him. But Tsai reportedly does not want Kyrie Irving back, which could make for an interesting conversation with KD.