Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets plan to stay together after all, even after the all-star forward asked to be traded earlier this summer.
The Nets said Tuesday that the team's leadership met a day earlier with Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman in Los Angeles and "agreed to move forward with our partnership," general manager Sean Marks said in a statement. "We are focusing on basketball, with one collective goal in mind: build a lasting franchise to bring a championship to Brooklyn," Marks added.
That is certainly more likely by keeping Durant, who remains one of the best scorers in the NBA. He is set to begin a four-year extension he signed last summer, and the possibility of him being traded had been the biggest story in the NBA this summer.
It's unknown exactly why he sought a trade, which came at the end of a turbulent year in Brooklyn. A championship favourite before last season began, the Nets barely made the playoffs and then were bounced by Boston in four games in the first round.