Brooklyn Nets owner sides with staff as Kevin Durant steps up trade war

Kevin Durant has again told Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai that he wants to be traded, reiterating a request he first made nearly six weeks ago, a source confirmed on Monday night.

Durant also told Tsai that he has concerns about the Nets’ direction under coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks. The Athletic first reported details of the latest Durant-Tsai meeting.

However, Tsai appeared to take the side of Marks and Nash with a statement on Twitter on Monday night. “Our front office and coaching staff have my support,” Tsai wrote. “We will make decisions in the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets.”

This is the latest phase of a saga that began on 30 June, when Durant told the Nets he wanted a trade just as this summer’s free agent period was beginning. The 33-year-old isn’t a free agent; he has four years and $198m remaining on his contract with the Nets, who will undoubtedly demand a haul of players and draft picks in any trade agreement for the 12-time All-Star.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has never been a fan of trade demands going public.

“This needs to be a two-way street,” Silver said last month. “Teams provide enormous security and guarantees to players and the expectation is, in return, they will meet their end of the bargain. I’m realistic that there’s always conversations that are going to go on behind closed doors between players and their representatives and the teams. But we don’t like to see players requesting trades, and we don’t like to see it playing out the way it is.”

Durant has spent three seasons with Brooklyn, not playing in the first of those years while he recovered from a torn achilles. He averaged 29.9 points in 55 games last season, after leading the US to Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games