In his latest read of the Nets situation, Adrian Wojnarowski, speaking on ESPN, says there is “no traction” on deals involving either Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving and has raised the possibility that the two superstars are still Nets are when training camp begins in late September.
He also threw cold water at reports that the Lakers were trading aggressively for Irving. Reports from Yahoo! Sports and SNY, among others, had sent Irving and possibly Joe Harris to LA for Russell Westbrook and the draft compensation.
“The Lakers, I’ve been told, still have to be aggressive to try to put a deal together [Kyrie] from Brooklyn. It can come, it can develop over time. But so far there isn’t really any traction on deals with either Irving or Durant.”
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“Similar to Durant, a very slow market right now,” Woj said of the market for Irving. “Unlike Kevin Durant, I think there’s a limited number of teams where it could make sense. I think there are teams who would like to make deals for him. It’s different from the sign and trade he was trying to get. The teams should have signed him for several years. He’s essentially on an expiring contract. I think teams that need to hone their talent can take some risks with Kyrie Irving.
“The Lakers, I’ve been told, still have to be aggressive to try and get a deal [Kyrie] from Brooklyn. It can come, it can develop over time. But so far, there’s no real deal traction with either Irving or Durant. They will evolve over time, but both processes could play out.”
Woj then dropped some kind of bombshell, suggesting the Nets could just try to wait out their two superstars.
“And they don’t have to act either,” Woj added. “They are both under contract. You could bring them back to start the season. I don’t think that’s the ideal scenario for Brooklyn. I think they’re trying to find the largest possible amount of assets, but again there’s plenty of time this off-season and a lot more talks to come.”
Interestingly, Woj didn’t say whether the talks involve the Nets and other teams or the Nets and their players. While the league understands the situation is so toxic that there is no chance of a return. However, none of the parties – Durant, Irving, Joe Tsai or Sean Marks – have made a public statement or given a public interview that they would have to retract.
Of course, if things are indeed toxic, a stalemate at training camp could only make things uglier. The longer trade talks take to gain traction, the more difficult it can also be to reach an agreement that satisfies all parties. However, negotiations can take different turns.
Indeed, Woj was not alone in his discussion of the status of trade talks. Brian Lewis noted Sunday night: “So far, league sources have said nothing is imminent or even in the advanced stages.”