Kevin Durant is going to be a Brooklyn Nets player in the upcoming NBA season. The team, in an announcement on Tuesday, said that Nets owner Joe Tsai, along with his wife Ciara Wu Tsai, General Manager Sean Marks, and Head Coach Steve Nash, met with the 2016-17 NBA Finals MVP and his business partner, Rich Kleiman, the previous day. All the parties agreed to move this partnership forward with a common goal in mind, which is to bring an NBA Championship to the franchise. 

Here is the tweet from the Brooklyn Nets: –

Since Durant asked for trade on June 30, there were various speculations about the reasons behind his decision, especially the four-year, $198 million extension.

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Many speculated that Kyrie Irving’s firm stand on not taking the COVID-19 vaccine, without which he was ineligible to play home games as well in Toronto, as well as a poor post-season run in 2022, was behind Durant’s call. 

Trading away a disgruntled James Harden for Ben Simmons, who did not play the previous year, was also a major factor as to why the 2013-14 League MVP requested to part ways with his current team.

KD, as he is popularly known, demanded a trade with his priority being to join either the Miami Heat or Phoenix Suns. But both of these teams did not have enough resources to trade for the player. 

But now that the transfer saga has ended, let’s have a look at why Kevin Durant has decided to stay with the Nets: –

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1) No good enough offers: Rudy Gobert being traded to the  Minnesota Timberwolves in massive players and picks deal  decreased Durant’s chances of being traded away from the team. Nets GM Sean Marks and the executive did not consider any mediocre trade offers for their star players. 

2) Not enough leverage: Since he signed that massive $198 million contract extension last August, KD lost all the leverage on his part to push the team to trade him. All the power laid in the hands of the Nets ownership who wanted to make sure that Durant stays with the team for at least one year of his new deal.

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3) Friendship with Kyrie: – KD and Kyrie were both free agents in 2019 and signed max deals with the Nets. But after the 2021-22 NBA Season concluded, the two had disagreements over the latter’s anti-COVID vaccine stance. 

Both of them, as per ESPN reports, were seen playing together in Los Angeles. 

4) Belief in the current squad: – The current Nets roster includes Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons, who is expected to return to playing after missing the last season because of mental health issues, along with sharpshooters Joe Harris and Seth Curry, as well as better defenders in Royce O’Neal and Nicholas Claxton. This squad has the potential to make a deep run in the NBA Playoffs and KD would like to take his chances with this squad.